Dear
Friends,
September has literally been a hair-raising
time at Las Casas de la Selva, where Sally was on her own, as Tropical
Storm Jeanne raged right over the island of Puerto Rico, (the red dot
in the satellite image, Credit:
National Hurricane Center www.nws.noaa.gov
). Many trees came down, but thankfully not
much damage was sustained at the project. Of course, many hands will be
needed to clean up, and if you would like to head out there, let us know
as soon as possible.
Las Casas de la Selva was a hive of activity this June and July 2004, with two Earthwatch Expeditions, a Mahoe thinning operation and a visit by Globalworks with 25 teenagers.
Earthwatch
The project hosted two terrific Earthwatch teams this summer. The teams
continued our tree surveys and helped us to assess the Mahoe plantations
on the far side of the property. This activity included getting somewhat
lost on several occasions trying to measure the extent of the plantations
on steep slopes! Thanks for your patience everyone and for putting in
all that hiking time. We also re-measured the hardwood plots that were
planted last summer and those of you who participated last June will be
pleased to know that we had a very high survival rate and some of the
cedars (Cedrela odorata) are over 5 feet tall! Many
thanks to the team from Group One who made a beautiful map of our new
Wastewater Garden.
Frog Study
We started our coqui studies this
summer with the help of Rafael Joglar and Patricia Burrows from the University
of Puerto Rico Coqui project. This involves setting out at dusk to walk
to the transect sites, armed with plenty of flashlights and a headlamp
each. Once it gets dark we get to work! Crawling around in the leaf litter
spotting and identifying the coquis is an intense and fulfilling task.
Some of them are caught, measured, and skin scrapings are taken for future
analysis to see if the coquis are infected with the chytrid fungus, a
disease that is reducing frog populations world wide.
We discovered that our area is unusually abundant in a coqui species called
the melodious coqui. Little is known about the habits of this species
so Las Casas is an ideal place for future study. We all learned a great
deal from Rafael and Patricia, and look forward to discovering the hidden
life of the forest in greater detail with every study. The forest at night
is truly magical and apart from frogs, there is an abundance of creatures
to see, including giant stick insects and whip scorpions (Mastigoproctus
giganteus).
Homestead news
Cathy and Joe Carrasquillo,
site managers, have decided to leave the project for personal reasons,
and they remain great friends and neighbours. Cathy is still very involved
with the project. We would like to extend warm and gracious thanks from
everyone to both Cathy and Joe for taking care of the project over the
last several years, through thick and thin, and through the eye of Hurricane
George in 1998, and we wish you the best of luck in your new ventures.
Silverstone the Iguana
died August 10, 2004, of unknown causes. Our beautiful and unique
reptile friend will be deeply missed.
Gregg Dugan
has spent 5 months at Las Casas this year, stewarding the lower elevation
of the property, at Icaco. He has been planting trees, landscaping, cultivating
cacao seedlings, taking care of the nursery on the homestead, and planting
a delicious vegetable garden. Dugan has tended to the new plants in the
Wastewater Garden.
Molly Robertson spent 6 weeks at Las Casas this year, and was an invaluable help with two Earthwatch Groups and the start of the frog studies. Thanks Molly for your indefatigable enthusiasm.
Robert Townsend spent almost three months at the project this year, working with Andre Sanfiorenzo on the Mahoe harvest, assisting with the Earthwatch expeditions, and overseeing the Globalworks project. Robert intends to spend more time at Las Casas in the future.
Storm Townsend, Robert's 16 year old son, spent 6 weeks at Las Casas, his first trip to the rainforest. Storm was invaluable with his help around the homestead and with all the projects that were happening including the wood harvest, the Earthwatch expeditions, the frog studies, and the Globalworks mission.
Second Historic
Mahoe Harvest
Andre Sanfiorenzo
and Robert Townsend headed up the second thinning operation of approximately
1500 board feet of Mahoe (Hibiscus elatus), aided by Manuel Sanfiorenzo,
Storm Townsend, Carmelo Torre, Javier Rojas, 3t Vakil and Sally Silverstone.
More
Art Workshops
at Las Casas
Art lovers, carvers and sculptors
are invited to Las Casas to work with Omar Collazo,
renowned sculptor in Puerto Rico, who is planning to carve a mahogany
log. Omar has spent some time working with native totem pole carvers from
Ketchikan, Alaska and he has returned to the island to continue that sculpting
tradition. One of the projects that Omar plans to start this year, is
the carving of a ten foot high mahogany log, 3.5 feet in diameter (see
photo), into a modern totem pole. He will be merging the experiences of
the native carvers of Alaska with the traditions of Puerto Rican carving.
This is a once in a lifetime chance to work with a talented sculptor,
on a spectacular mahogany piece. If you are interested to join with Omar
on this venture please let us know or contact Omar.
Globalworks building
boardwalk
For five days Las Casas de la Selva
hosted 25 teenagers, who were part of a project run by Globalworks.
Globalworks is committed to quality environmental and community service
programs for high school students. Their mission at Las Casas was to build
a boardwalk, and through some heavy rainy days, the mission was accomplished.
During their stay, everyone got to visit the island on various activities,
including diving. We would like to say a big thank you to all the participants
for a highly successful venture, and also to the marvellous staff of Globalworks,
Brian, Mary, Katy, Kris and Jason. We hope to see you again next year
with intrepid teams of teenagers.
Wastewater Garden
The new Wastewater Garden is settling
into the landscape beautifully and all the plants are doing very well.
Dugan planted ginger and pineapples to hold the side banks to stem erosion.
In September this year Sally Silverstone and Mark Nelson hosted a public
outreach, educational workshop on constructed wetlands. The Department
of Natural Resources supplied the grant to enable us to build the innovative
system. This event attracted all our friends and neighbours interested
in learning about how wastewater can be dealt with in an ecological manner.
We hope that Wastewater Gardens will become the favored way of wastewater
treatment, and water re-use in Puerto Rico. www.biospherefoundation.org
Many, many thanks to Maria Benedetti for being the
translator for this workshop.
Sustainable Forestry Project Needs You!
Las Casas needs woodworkers. We would like to begin making furniture at Las Casas for sale locally and through the website. We have an inventory of wood and 'waste' wood from the mahoe harvest. Are you good with wood? Would you like to make something from our beautiful Mahoe hardwood, or create an enterprise at Las Casas making rustic furniture using the wastewood? Come spend some time at Las Casas and find wood heaven! The table on the left was made by Earthwatcher Jonnathan Park, with great enthusiasm in his spare time.
Always happy to receive your news
and any comments on the website. All newsletters are in the archive Archive
big hugs...
Sally & 3t
ssilverstone1@cs.com
3t@synergeticpress.com
Photo Credits:
Pictures tell the story. Thank you for sending and sharing
with us your images from your stay at Las Casas de la Selva.
Catherine Bischoff, Brian Difeo, Evie Eve, Jonnathan Park, Molly
Robertson, Sally Silverstone, Robert Townsend,
3t Vakil.
Click on image to weave your way to the web...
(giant crab spider in the family Sparassidae)
