Gallo de la Peña

What draws people to any given site? Generally, there is something of interest. For me, Ecuador and the other parts of South America we will visit are just plain different and that is the primary allure. I’m not in search of anything in particular, mostly a sense of what else the world has to offer.

For others, the draw is very specific. For example, those who are interested in traditional medicine may travel to meet with the shamans of various indigenous communities, in order to learn about their natural remedies.

Here at La Hesperia, there are many reasons people arrive and spend time: some to gain a greater connection to the land, others to learn about conservation efforts in the cloud forest, and others still that come specifically to see the sights.

One such sightis the lek of the Gallo-de-la-Peña(in English, Cock-of-the-Rock). A Gallo-de-la-Peñais a rather large bird, approximately 30-45 cm tall. The birdmakes its home in ravines, at cave entrances and against rock walls (hence Cock-of-the-Rock). Their nests are generally associated with forested streams because the females use mud and saliva to attach the nests to a rocky substrate.

Because of their frugavore diet, they are found in areas with a high concentration of protein-rich fruit such as aguacatillo, a tiny relative of the aguacate (avocado). Interestingly, because their digestion process does not include the breakdown ofseeds, the seeds pass through the bird’s digestive tract and plant themselves in the soil below the birds’ homes. As a result, the plant communities associated with Gallo-de-la-Peñaare comprised mostly of their preferred food sources and are significantly different than that of the surrounding forest.

Gallo-de-la-Peñaarealso sexually dimorphic, meaning that size and color differs between males and females. For example, the male bird is deep red and the female bird is dark brown. The males are a more brilliant color, similar to many other birds, in order to attract a female counterpart.

Something particularly interesting about Gallo-de-la-Peña is the way the males congregate in large groups to compete for the companionship of the female. This is a communal courtshipritual called a “lek” (pronounced lake). In the lek, which takes place in a wide open space, separate from the nesting site, the males provide wild shows of their beauty and song, at times coming to blows in order to prove their superiority over one another. The lekking behavior of the Gallo-de-la-Peñais not reserved for one time per year. In fact, lekking happens rather frequently in December and March with a period of decline in February. Each time they congregate, they do so in the same place, similar to the way some animals return each year to a specific and defined breeding ground.

Here on La Hesperia property Gallos-de-la-Peña have been spotted, though the leksite has yet to be seen. Because of the desire to study leksamong bird-enthusiasts, this could be an especially lucrative draw for La Hesperia, helping to further finance their sustainability efforts.

Sustainability at La Hesperia

Dear Students,

In your classrooms you are being introduced to the concepts of sustainability. Similarly, we are beginning to encounter sustainability in Ecuador. This video will show you our experiences with sustainability over the last two weeks while volunteering at La Hesperia: biological station and cloud forest reserve.

In the video, we explain how La Hesperia encounters the three realms of sustainability: 1) Environmental, 2) Social, and 3) Economic. In most societies, fully achieving environmental, social, and economic sustainability is close to impossible for large businesses and individuals alike. La Hesperia functions on minimal electricity, stored rain water, and food harvested on the reserve farm. Additionally, the 10-30 people who live on the reserve take cold showers, feed food waist to the reserve pig, compost all remaining food waste, and produce a maximum of 25 gallons of rubbish per week. Though coffee, chocolate, and milk are produced and sold year-round, these products do not provide nearly enough revenue to cover all reserve expenses. Likewise, while the reserve has roughly 20 hectares worth of gardens and plantations, it is still necessary to buy much of the food for workers and volunteers. Through the Montessori school and the volunteer program, La Hesperia involves local and global communities. La Hesperia is working towards teaching people of all ages the importance of the cloud forest reserve and the three facets of sustainability.

Take a moment to think about how much trash Waste Management collects on your street each week, how many gallons of water go to hot showers in the morning, or even how much food goes uneaten on all the plates in your school cafeteria.

Currently, even with all these efforts, La Hesperia is only 20% sustainable. The goal is to be 80% sustainable within the next 10 years.

Ecotourism Part I: La Hesperia discussion

The following blog is an aspect of a continuing series. We will add id

eas and information throughout our journey. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS TOPIC SO THAT WE CAN DO RESEARCH…FOR YOU!!!

By: Emily (Tierra entre de los ojos)

9/23/10

KEY WORDS: ecotourism, eco-tourist, tourist, La Hesperia, Ecuador, economy

Paraphrased from wikipedia.org, ecotourism or ecological tourism is based on a paired gain:

1) tourists learn about ecosystems around the world and how to maintain their purity, and

2) eco-touristic venues are found in countries that greatly need the economic circulation provided by the tourism itself. Thus, the concept of ecotourism began with the intention of teaching people about beautiful places, biodiversity, and so much more the world has to offer. The hope is that we may care more for the planet while at the same time bringing a bit of prosperity to places people may not visit otherwise. Most ecotourism involves volunteer opportunities, which

allow people to gain a greater appreciation for their surroundings.

How do we, and how does La Hesperia tie into ecotourism?Well frankly, we are tourists. We are volunteering in a foreign environment and learning about conservation in another culture. In doing so, we gain a strong connection

to the land and the vast and beautiful biodiversity of La

Hesperia’s cloud forest. Likewise, La Hesperia is a site of ecotourism, attracting people from around the globe to the exotic Andesand instigating economic circulation throughout Ecuador.

What does La Hesperia offer the tourist?
Currently, volunteers at the cloud forest reserve participate in a variety of activities: planting trees deep in the forest, harvesting crops on the farm, researching a variety of topics, and working with children in the recently founded La Hesperia Montessori school. Volunteers are provided three meals a day (very good food and huge portions to fill your belly after a hard days work), as well as a bed in the “casa de voluntarios,” which accommodates up to 30 volunteers.

How do tourists support the conservation efforts at La Hesperia and the economy of Ecuador?

In four parts:

1) Each volunteer pays a $20/day fee that covers his/her food, worker salaries, and reserve maintenance.

2) Every day, volunteers work a total of 6 ½ hours on a combination of the above tasks.

3) Monday through Thursday morning, one volunteer takes the mule, carrying the daily load of milk, 1 km down an extremely steep hill into the town of La Esperie.

Once there, that volunteer recovers a list of items from his/her pocket. The list consists of items such as soda, Oreos, chocolate, and any other provisions the other volunteers may want/need. The bill usually amounts to $15. La Esperie benefits from the economic circulation this process initiates.

4) Most weekends, volunteers travel throughout Ecuador. From surfing at the coast in Canoa to climbing active volcanoes like Cotopaxi to bathing in the hot springs and viewing the magnificent waterfalls in Baños and so much more, volunteers spend money far and wide; thus, continuing economic circulation.

Despite this exchange typical of ecotourism, volunteer contributions, whether monetary or labor-driven, are not enough to maintain La Hesperia. Subsequently, Alexandra and Juan-Pablo work hard to develop new ideas and activities that will bring more money to the reserve and help keep the cloud forest the pristine place it has forever been.

Please read Kether’s blog about “Gallo de la Peña,” a bird that is hoped to bring more tourism to the forest.

Discussion:
Please read and respond to our questions. We are currently working on a video about La Hesperia, the activities here, our experience, and ecotourism

. We will put this video up along with responses to your discussion in the following weeks. In the meantime, we would like your thoughts regarding ecotourism.
1) What are the pros and cons of ecotourism?
2) What do you think about the exchange between what La Hesperia offers the tourist and what the tourist gives back to La Hesperia and the economy of Ecuador?
3) Considering this blog and others, what do you think of the projects La Hesperia offers? Which aspect of the projects offered is the most interesting to you and why?
4) Do you have any ideas about how La Hesperia could produce a greater income?
5) Considering Rayna’s blog from last week, do you have any ideas about how the community and La Hesperia could come to a better understanding?
6) How do you think the community could be involved more wit

h La Hesperia?
7) Do you think it is important to travel as an eco-tourist? If so, why?
8) If you were volunteering at La Hesperia do you think it would be important to travel on the weekends? If so, why?
9) Would you volunteer at La Hesperia if you had the opp

ortunity? If so, why?

Finding appreciation: where does our food come from?!

By: Emily (Emilia)

9/18/10

KEY WORDS: Food, Sustainability, Coffee, Work

Words in green: translated in the Spanish blog!

Imagine waking up at the crack of dawn with just enough time to stuff your tummy with a breakfast that will need to sustain you through the day. A day full of 25ft-tree shimmying, orange tree shaking, away-from-wasp running, bamboo tree planting, 45˚-slope scaling, garden weeding, banana tree hacking, cacao bean harvesting, coffee cherry picking, coffee cherry peeling, slimy coffee bean soaking, clean coffee bean drying, dried coffee bean shelling, green coffee bean roasting, roasted coffee bean grinding, coffee making, cow milking, milk boiling, milk and sugar to coffee adding, and café con leche drinking…the next morning anyway.

Though all the activities we are partaking in here at La Hesperia are exciting and worthy of note, this blog is about, “where does our food come from?!” So I will tell you ladies and gents, I have found the source! Today is Saturday, a most-often day off from work at home in the United States. However, when you are growing, harvesting, and milking your food and drink on your own land, a day off means no food or drink that day. Therefore, much to the disbelief of us who have stores at which we can buy weeks–worth of provisions, there is always work to do in order that we may have that food on the shelves and that milk in the refrigerator.

So what did I spend my day doing? COFFEE! You know that feeling when your alarm goes off in the morning and you first open your eyes, and as badly as you don’t want to get out of bed, you remember the automatic timer you set on your 12-cup CoffeeMate*, and thus all is well. The rich smell of Columbian roast, as it’s nutty, sweet nostalgic sensations rush through your veins before you even taste it you are summoned from your cozy night past.

Now imagine that same experience, but add 5 years and a few days to the process. Yes, I said 5 years! That is how long it takes for a coffee tree to become mature enough to use the fruit, the coffee beans that is. Then, in order to produce a single pound of coffee you need to pick nearly 20 trees worth of what are called cherries, which look like hard, red, quarter-sized, oval balls. This picking process took 4 people an afternoon’s worth of work. On the next afternoon, 12 people worked together grinding the cherries through a 200-year-old machine that somehow peels the cherry off the slimy been. These beans then go into a bowl of water to soak over night and, in the morning, are rinsed and laid to dry. After two days of drying we were able to attain our 1-pound of useable, ground coffee grains. Today, 5 of us spent 2 hours grinding the peels off the beans in a 100-year-old grinding contraption that somehow cracks the extremely thin, transparent shells of the bean without crushing the bean itself. Next, bean and shell can only be separated by blowing the light, pastry-like peels into the wind, this takes another hour or so. The next 2 hours were spent roasting the beans in two separate pans. A final 3 hours quietly slipped by as we focused our ears to the beans crackling and crushing into powder. By the end of the 8-hour period, the group had dwindled to 2 people with tired biceps, tight hamstrings, sweaty foreheads, and salivating pallets. I will never appreciate a cup of coffee in quite the same way.

As I sat back against the stove with my cup of café con leche that I was given as a reward for my hard work, I took in my surroundings. Soledad, the reserve cook who had been preaching for the last 5 hours or so, “mas trabajas y nesecitas mas patiencia,” meaning much work and you need much patients, was now stirring a large pot of milk she had just taken from the farm cow. Piotr, a fellow volunteer and my sole comrade at the end of our grinding process, was sitting in front of me on our grinding bench sipping his hot milk. A quiet, post-drizzle breeze brought floral-scented and dewy air through the outdoor kitchen. And a low mist poured over the rolling mountains of the cloud forest and the Andes that surrounded us. I was at complete ease, fully and truly comforted, and for the first time, by just a little coffee warm in belly.

La Hesperia: Preservation in Ecuador’s western range of the Andes

By: Rayna Weiss (Arena)

KEY WORDS: Ecuador, Reserve, Community, Conservation, Preservation, Sustainability, Cloud Forest, Ecotourism

Enduring Understandings:
1) Balancing our community’s energy consumption and production with the natural world can sustain our environment and benefit the economic welfare of people.
2) Environmental problems associated with over consumption leads to social, political, and economic instability, which can lead to security issues and concerns.


First day working on the reserve and we already have so many questions. Luckily, Alexandra, owner and passionate conservationist, answered all we had to ask during our orientation.

Here’s the situation: La Hesperia is a private reserve in Ecuador (one of the few hundred). On the reserve, roughly 20 of the 814 hectares are dedicated to harvesting fruits, vegetables, some meat, dairy, and hardwood. The rest is allocated for conservation and preservation of the cloud forest. The overarching goal at La Hesperia is to act as a model for other reserves.

During the 19th and 20th century, the Luit family owned La Hesperia and tried to build a farm. They were unsuccessful in maintaining the forest boundary causing them to lose their crops. In frustration, the Luits passed the land to the Miranda Family. The Mirandas worked the land planting sugar cane, coffee and other crops. In 1988, they decided to protect La Hesperia’s forest by founding a reserve. To this day, La Hesperia has been fighting to maintain private conservation. Since 1988, La Hesperia has preserved 814 hectares of precious cloud forest.


In Ecuador, there are laws about land use. Landowners are each allotted approximately 150 hectares. If the land is not being used productively, it can be divided among the community members. There are exceptions to this law in regards to ecological preservation. However, locals in a nearby community do not see the benefit of preservation at La Hesperia because they are not experiencing direct economic or social profit. As a result, locals have at times moved onto the land, cutting the forest for development and agriculture. Due to these actions, La Hesperia has hired lawyers and undergone litigation.


Upon arriving at La Hesperia, these were our first impressions and concerns:
1) How does La Hesperia interact/include the community members?
2) How is La Hesperia financially supported?
3) What are future concerns at La Hesperia?
4) What are the goals of La Hesperia?

1) When first arriving at La Hesperia, we felt the reserve was very segregated from the community below. However, we soon learned that La Hesperia has a small Montessori school that includes students from the community. After having children, Alexandra and her husband Juan Pablo realized that they were going to encounter a schooling problem. The closest school to La Hesperia is about 1 hour away and is not adequate. In order to solve this problem, they decided to home school their children, Jota and Joaquin. Alexandra realized that if she was going to be spending time and effort teaching her own children, she should include children from the local communities as well.

2) La Hesperia has a challenging time supporting their financial needs. The volunteers each pay $20 a day, which covers food, housing and some project fees. Their larger financial needs, such as the school, construction, and employee/teacher salaries are usually covered by donations and grants.

3) Future concerns at La Hesperia are primarily financial. As Alexandra says, “preservation doesn’t pay and I have to pay my teachers.” She has mentioned how ecotourism could help pay to preserve the area and, simultaneously, benefit the community. She explained that when the community directly benefits economically from preservation, they are more likely to support preservation.

4) La Hesperia has a list of future goals. Their number one goal is to protect the existing forest and maintain the reserve as an Important Bird Area (IBA). They also would like to become 80% sustainable. Right now, they are only 20% sustainable, meaning that 20% of the food we eat and resources we use come from the reserve. They want to continue to create programs to foster community development in addition to educating the public about conservation and ecology. Lastly, they want to continue to conduct and broaden their research and share their experiences with more nature enthusiasts, local communities and volunteers.


Discussion Questions:
1) How can La Hesperia further include the community?
2) Do you think that it is fair for La Hesperia to own 814 hectares while the community members have significantly less land?
3) What are some ways La Hesperia could overcome their financial difficulties?
4) What concerns can you see involving social, economic, and environmental justice?

For more information, visit La Hesperia’s website: www.lahesperia.org