George LoCascio from Bunkerhill Community College in Boston, returned to spend a few days at Las Casas de la Selva, along with Denise O’Malley, helping out on gardens and continuing with George’s ongoing Lepidoptera project. This consists of a species survey and a population survey. The species survey involves the use of aerial mesh traps, that carry fruits as bait to attract butterflies,that remain unharmed for proper identification. Along with aerial traps traditional hand nets are used to capture species for identification. Both methods are used to compile a list of Lepidoptera species that are found on the property. The population survey is along a predetermined 1.1 km transect that can be, and is, repeated to find population trends of different known species. George and Denise also continued with a project begun last year, measuring the volumes of tree trunks and using the density of the wood to determine the amount of carbon dioxide that has been sequestered within them. George has been returning to Las Casas frequently over the last few years. This was Denise’s second trip here.
4to. Simposio de Educación, Interpretación e Investigación en Bosques y Áreas Naturales,
Viernes, 21 de marzo de 2014, Edificio de Agencias Ambientales, Rio Piedras.
Speakers: Introduction and closing by Frank H. Wadsworth Carmen Guerrero Pérez, Secretaria – DRNA Dayamaris Candelario, Directora – Centro Ambiental Santa Ana (CASA) Astrid Maldonado, Asistente de Proyecto – Para la Naturaleza Pedro Rios, Forest Staff Officer – US Forest Service Glorienell Pérez Vélez, INTER (Receinto de Bayamon) Edgardo González González – DRNA Eliezer Nieves, Ayudant Especial de la Oficina de la Secretaria -DRNA Christian Torres, Director – Parque Doña Inés (FLMM) Waldemar Feliciano Estudiante Subgraduado – INTER (Bayamon) Julio Vallejo González, Coordinador de Alcance Comunitario – San Juan ULTRA
Gracias Yaritza Bobonis y Dayamaris Candelario y voluntaries por une dia muy interesante.
A team of Fountain Valley High School students from Colorado Springs, CO, spent five days with us. Led by Andrés and 3t, the students completely emptied out the entire woodworking and machine shop, cleaned and organized all the tools, cleaned machines, took out all the wood stockand re-organized it, and left the workshop clean, organized and far more user-friendly! Students also worked in the nurseries and trails with Norman. Thank you to Deb Prantl and Vydia Garcia for tremendous team leadership, and a super big thanks to all the students who carried out such an incredible task. We really appreciated your help, and also the constant smiles and endless enthusiasm.
Genny and Tim, spent 10 days with us during the Appalachian State University group’s visit, and helped with all aspects of the project. We really appreciated their wonderful company, super hard work, and enthusiasm! They are off to spend more time at our sister project Synergia Ranch, Center for Innovation and Retreats, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. https://synergiaranch.com/about-us/
Vella Lovell, a student at The Julliard School of Dance, Drama and Music, NY, volunteered at Las Casas de la Selva for the days that Vanderbilt University students were here. She helped with tree pruning, team management and all homestead duties.
Appalachian State University students worked really hard on a diversity of projects at Las Casas de la Selva; plastering the bunkhouse, making a ramp for access to the dining room, pruning, gardening, nursery work, moving soil, making a new compost, emptying the humanure compost ready for use, and many other tasks. Wow! We thank you all for being such wonderful company this last week. We’ll see you again!
Vanderbilt University students have just spent several days with us at Las Casas de la Selva, and we have had a super time, working hard! Students learnt the art of plastering on the bunkhouse, led by Andres, and also helped with heavy labor and soil renewal on the Papaya Terraces with 3t. In their time here, they also got to do a leaf litter study with Norman and hiked into the forest. Thank you for your remarkable teamwork, and thanks Zach and Julia, team leaders who did a great job. We salute you all! Come back and see us again soon.
Vella Lovell, a student at The Julliard School of Dance, Drama and Music, NY, volunteered at Las Casas de la Selva for the days that Vanderbilt University students were here. Thanks for all your hard work and enthusiasm lovely lady!
This was our third year hosting a team from Pepperdine University at Las Casas de la Selva. Norman Greenhawk, as crew leader worked with the students on the main hill-trail and everyone worked super hard to build steps, and to make the walk up and down the hill much safer and more comfortable. Hauling rocks and gravel from the river and carrying then up hill was hard work, and it was extremely satisfying to us to see a group getting on so well with the task at hand. The materials used were recycled from all over the homestead and the wood was from the old drying shed that Pepperdine students helped us to deconstruct in 2013. The work was muddy, and in rainy conditions for a few days, but sunshine prevailed and we all had a superb time with this great bunch! Pepperdiners, we salute you all. Please stay in touch.
3t, Andrés, Norman and Magha appreciate the work and great company of Fryeburg students, February 2014
This wonderful team from Fryeburg Academy, worked with Andres and 3t to build the new nursery for the endangered endemic tree planting program. We have had a super time and we thank you all for help in clearing, pruning, tidying, and generally being a great clean-up crew on the homestead too! And in rainy conditions! The team also spent time with Norman on trail work, and carried out a frog study on a night-hike.
Thanks to Chris and Emily for bringing such a great team our way this year. We look forward to seeing Daniel at age three next year!
This program has been formulated to protect endangered flora and fauna by planting endangered endemic tree species, and working on habitat enhancement in subtropical wet forest. The location and the quality of the habitat of the 930-acre forest property of Las Casas de la Selva is ideal for the establishment of projects toward the recovery of various endangered endemic tree species. The property’s north-eastern border adjoins the Carite State Forest which contains another 6,660 acres of subtropical wet mountain forest land.
Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation are collaborating with US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to develop habitat enhancement and restoration projects that benefit endangered endemic species of Puerto Rico
Collecting Ausubo seedlings sounds like an easy task, but carrying full tree bags up and down forest slopes back to the homestead is demanding physical labor. Our current Earthwatch Team assisted with this task on New Years Eve, and in one morning we collected 110 Ausubo (Manilkara bidentata) seedlings.
Ausubo (Manilkara bidentata), also known a balata, is a large evergreen forest tree that was probably the most important timber tree of Puerto Rico. It grows best in Puerto Rico on alluvial plain where it may reach the age of 400 years. Ausubo is extremely tolerant of shade. The strong and attractive wood makes it highly valued commercially an it is widely used in the tropics for many woo products. The tree is often tapped for its milky latex the source of balata gum. Although growth is slow, ausubo is planted for shade and timber.
Ausubo is one of the strongest and most attractive commercial woods in Puerto Rico. It is widely used in the tropics for railway sleepers, bridging, heavy construction, furniture, turnery, flooring, violin bows, and billiard cues. Its strength, high wear resistance, and durability qualify the timber for use in textile and pulpmill equipment. Its excellent steam-bending properties make it suitable for boat frames and other bent work.
The heartwood is light red when cut and turns to dark reddish brown when dry. The sapwood is whitish to pale brown. The wood is very hard, strong, fine textured, and heavy, with a specific gravity of 0.85. The wood rates excellent for boring, fair for planing, and poor for turning. It is difficult to air season and shows severe checking and warp if dried too fast. The wood finishes very well and resembles mahogany.
Planting endangered endemicsWe have an enthusiastic team of Earthwatchers here till the 6th January 2014. Continuing our collaborative project with Fish & Wildlife, we planted critically endangered endemic tree saplings, Styrax portoricensis and Cornutia obovata. To date 116 Styrax and 21 Cornutia have been planted in our spectacular secondary forest here in the Mira Flores mountain, better known as Las Casas de la Selva.
These students worked with Andrés and 3t on the reparation of a broken fence and gate and also completely pruned back an overgrown area that will house the new tree nursery. The weather was rainy for most of the time, so kudos to the team for staying on task and getting the work done. Norman Greenhawk and Magha Garcia Medina provided delicious food for the group, and they also got a night hike led by Norman. Thanks everyone for a week of super work. Now a few days of a Christmas break before we get ready for our next Earthwatch team arriving on the 28th December.
Thank You Vanderbilt Winter Breakers! We appreciate your time and effort in helping us with our goals.
Why volunteer at Las Casas de la Selva? See this 3 minute video by Ben Zenner.
This 3 min video was produced by Ben Zenner, a volunteer of Las Casas de la Selva in April of 2013. Ben is a videographer and graphic designer, and is in the process of developing a non profit design firm to help organizations with their online media presence and funding efforts, and to connect students and individuals with potential volunteer opportunities. For more information about Ben and his project called Volunteer Dream, check out his website: www.benzenner.com/
Welcome to our new website! This year, we are celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Las Casas de la Selva, and hope that near and far, folks will be in touch and revisit to celebrate with us. We are planning a BIG Party, so stay in touch! Get comfy, get a cup of tea or coffee and settle in to catch up with the latest news at Las Casas de la Selva!…
To make it even easier to stay in touch there is a comments section down below.
MOST OF THE PICTURES YOU WILL SEE IN THE NEWSLETTER ARE OF PEOPLE. PEOPLE STANDING AROUND TOGETHER AND MOSTLY SMILING.TO FIND OUT WHAT GOES ON BETWEEN STANDINGS AROUND AND SMILING, YOU SHOULD COME, VOLUNTEER AND EXPERIENCE WHATEVER IT IS! GROUPS AT LAS CASAS DE LA SELVA
Always a busy time at Las Casas de la Selva, this February and March 2013, we received five Alternative Spring Break groups from all over the USA. Each group stayed between 7-10 days and we were rewarded with the presence of many wonderful university students all looking to provide service as well as have a life-changing experience. Most groups experienced the heavy rains of this region, but none-the-less, hard labor was the order of the day with never a dull moment. Thank you all for helping us to continue to upgrade this project.
Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, helped on trail-work with Norman, and tree handling with 3t.
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, helped build a concrete floor for the new drying shed, with Andrés and worked on main homestead trail with Norman.
Northeastern, Boston, Massachusetts, also helped build a concrete floor for the new drying shed with Andrés, and worked on main homestead trail with Norman.
Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, worked on building a walk-bridge in a day, and main house wall plastering with Andrés.
For 23 years Globalworks has been providing exceptional Community Service, Cultural Exchange, Adventure Travel, and Language Immersion programs for teenagers all over the world. One of their stops whilst on a Puerto Rico adventure is to stay at Las Casas de la Selva for a few days, immerse themselves in an alternative lifestyle, carry out intensive hard labor, whilst bonding with each other and getting to know the crew at Las Casas. This year the team worked on making a cement path to the bunkhouses, which will be really appreciated by everyone in the rainy season! Thank you to Meghan Sullivan and Jesse Woodworth for their superb facilitation of this great bunch of teens.
FALL IN LOVE WITH THE FOREST!
Headstart groups from Cacao Alto and Esmeralda Ambar, Patillas joined us for our trips designed for 4-8 year olds. After a fun digital presentation in El Teatro, and a show-and-tell of some frogs and lizards caught and released around the homestead, we take to the forest, and tell stories of the land, stories about trees and forests, tree-planting and cutting, and a detailed look at all kinds of flora and fauna. Then arriving back at the homestead we peek into the woodshop where we show our wood stock and some products. A packed lunch eaten outside, if no rain, finishes up the morning; a morning of fun, and, we hope, the start of a lifelong love of the green!
Headstart Ciudad Esmeralda Ambar, Patillas.
Norman talks about the lizards and frogs of the area with the children.
Headstart children plant an endangered endemic, Styrax portoricensis sapling with 3t. See more about this project.
Headstart Cacao Alto, Patillas.
THE FOREST PRODUCTS ASSESSMENT PROJECT
This project initiated by Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation, led by Andrés Rua, and the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA), has made great progress with several key events in 2012 to highlight the current situation of forest product use and potential in Puerto Rico. 18th April 2013, saw a well-attended conference at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry attended by key players in the DRNA , the USDA, University of PR, and IITF. The group formally became CADA (Consejo Asesor para el Desarrollo Agro-Forestal) at the meeting at Cayey University on 6th May 2013. See more about this project at www.nuestramadera.org
Back row: Andrés Rua (TVREF), Enrique Santiago Irrizary (DRNA), Augusto Carvajal (UPR Cayey), Mark Schofield (former editor of Fine Woodworking Magazine), Gerardo Hernandez (Management Official for Toro Negro State Forest), Franklin Roman (UPR Agriculture Extension Officer and Agronomist), 3t Vakil (TVREF) Front: Jimena Forero Montanez (UPR Phd student), Christina Cabrera (Special Assistant to the Secretary, DRNA), Rosamaria Quiles (DRNA)
Designed and built by 3t and Andrés in February 2013, just in time to catch all the resources of the groups mentioned above.
“The world is divided into two categories of people: those who defecate in drinking water and those who don’t. We in the western world are in the former class. We defecate in water, usually purified drinking water. After polluting the water with our body’s excrements, we flush the once pure but now polluted water “away,” meaning we probably don’t know where it goes, nor do we care. This ritual of defecating in water may be useful for maintaining a good standing within western culture. If you don’t deposit your feces into a bowl of drinking water on a regular basis, you may be considered a miscreant of sorts, perhaps uncivilized or dirty or poverty stricken. You may be seen as a non-conformist or a radical. Some would argue that a simple system of humanure composting can also be the most advanced system known to humanity. It may be considered the most advanced because it works very well while consuming little, if any, non-renewable resources, producing no pollution, and actually creating a resource vital to life”. SOIL.
Thank you everyone who made the effort to overcome fecaphobic tendencies, to see that this is a really wise and sustainable way to collect and use all our resources, especially in the rainforest where we need soil for food production. 3t has been very successfully composting humanure for nearly nine years. Thanks to Reka Komaromi and Klaus Eiberle and great salutes for inspiration to Mark Nelson, and Joseph Jenkins for the quote above. (See his book)
NEW WOOD-DRYING SHED
Transformations going on everywhere you look!
NORMAN ON SABBATICAL
Norman Greenhawk was honored by Earthwatch with a Neville Schulman Award. The award is given for the training of emerging environmental leaders. For the award, Norman submitted a proposal: “Herpetological Conservation in the Neo-Tropics: An Interdisciplinary Approach”, and he is currently two and a half months into his seven month sabbatical. He has spent a month at La MICA Biological Field Station in El Cope, Panama. He has worked with Dr. Julie Ray, a specialist of Panamanian snakes and has also interviewed citizens of the rural barrio of Barrigon about their attitudes and beliefs about snakes. His time in Panama will end with a stint at the Panamanian Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project (PARC), which partners with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. PARC is a captive breeding program dedicated to preserving genetically diverse populations of Atelopus frogs, a genus of frogs that are highly susceptible to the Chytrid fungus, a disease currently wiping out populations of amphibians all over the world. While working at PARC, he is continuing his interviews of local and indigenous peoples, focusing on beliefs about reptiles and amphibians in general, as well as perceptions about conservation organizations. We wish the best for Norman on his intrepid explorations! More…
PEOPLE AT LAS CASAS DE LA SELVA, FEBRUARY – JUNE 2013
Above left: Marta Edgar started a Bird Survey with Earthwatch volunteers this June. Alyssa Solis, who first landed at Las Casas on an Earthwatch teen expedition in 2008, has been back several times since and was an invaluable help on the Bird study, as well as helping 3t with Las Casas logistics and team management of the two Earthwatch groups in June 2013. Thank you Ladies!
PRESS AND MEDIA
May 2013: Alex Croatto, with Channel 6, came to spend a day talking about sustainable forestry, and the work and history of Las Casas de la Selva.
March 2013: Jaylene Cintron and the “Desde Mi Pueblo” crew were making a series on Patillas, and spent a day in the trees and the woodshop, talking about all that we get up to at Las Casas de la Selva!
EARTHWATCH TEAM 1 JUNE 8-16TH 2013
This wonderful all-ladies team above started our Earthwatch season in June 2013, and we really appreciated their enthusiasm especially in such a rainy time, and with early pre-sunrise starts. We are happy to announce the launch of a bird survey at Las Casas de la Selva with ornithologist, Marta Edgar. The ladies also partook in the planting and monitoring of critically endangered endemic trees with 3t. Below, our most exceptional teen team of Earthwatch volunteers, who completed several days out in the forest in very wet conditions and not a complaint! We really appreciated the work carried out on bird and tree studies and also the fun back at the homestead. Special thanks to Jackie Pomposelli and Amy Reggio, Earthwatch facilitators who did a superb job of holding it all together!
THANKS FOR SHARING IN OUR NEWS AND THE NEW WEBSITE. THANKS FOR BEING PART OF THE NEWS!
BIG TREE HUGS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AROUND THE PLANET. LEAVE A COMMENT, SHARE, COME VISIT!
Magaly Figueroa has been a key ally of ours for the last decade in the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources and the USDA. We are very honored for her to mention us in an interview on ‘Faces of The Forest Service’, on the US Forest website. This is the first time Tropic Ventures and our portal to the wood world Nuestra Madera has had a public mention. Thanks Magaly!
L-R: Mark Schofield (Ex-Editor of Fine Woodworking Magazine); Yolanda Flores (Department of Agriculture); Augusto Carvajal (Biologist); Magaly Figueroa (USDA Forest Service, IITF); Andrés Rúa (Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation); 3t Vakil (Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry Project); Connie Carpenter (US State & private Forestry, IITF); Christina Cabrera (Departmento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, Ayudante Especial, Oficina del Secretario); Aileen Amador (Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas).
CADA meeting at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, 30th August 2013. Consejo Asesor para el Desarrollo Agroforestal de Puerto Rico
“Working towards the development of Sustainable Forestry in Puerto Rico, and the research and creation of a forest products industry and relevant markets.”
Aileen Amador and Christina Cabrera
Andrés Rúa
Magaly Figueroa
Andrés Rúa shows off the collection of 130 Puerto Rican woods to Dr. Ariel Lugo, Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry.
Yolanda Flores
Mark Schofield
Augusto Carvajal
See www.nuestramadera.org for more info on this new council and its mission, founded in May 2013 by Andrés Rúa and 3t Vakil.
When great friends come to visit! 3t’s friend Sally J. Richardson, and her 17 year old nephew, Sean Hitchcock, visited for three weeks, and in their time at Las Casas, helped with all aspects of homestead life and assisted magnificently with the organization and work with Globalworks teenagers and the Upward Bound Appalachian team. Sean, you were a star and we really appreciated your hard work in the field with the teams, and your quiet getting on with everything, and we especially loved your smile! Sally, tremendous gratitude for your upbeat humor in all situations and your generosity. We loved having you both here!
We did let them off the ranch a few times, and we did visit El Morro Fort in Old San Juan on a beautiful day. Sally and Sean went snorkeling on a Catamaran trip around Icacos and Lobos islands of the NE coast. They also managed to squeeze in a kayak trip in the Bioluminescent bay. A bio bay is a body of water that contains millions of micro-organisms, called “dinoflagellates”, that glow in the dark for a second when agitated. It is a rare, natural wonder that Sally and Sean were lucky enough to experience.
April 2004 was one of the driest seasons at Las Casas de la Selva which proved to be very fortunate for an exciting and busy session with the construction of a Wastewater Garden at the homestead. The team that gathered to complete this project in 15 days were: Dr. Mark Nelson, Chairman of the Institute of Ecotechnics, Mark ‘Laser’ Van Thillo, Abigail Alling, Gessie Houghton, Robert Townsend, Gregg Dugan, Chris ‘Dolphin’ Cook, Gilberto ‘Tingo’, Carmelo Torre, Javier Rojas, Sally Silverstone, 3t Vakil.
Wastewater Gardens® were developed by Dr. Mark Nelson, Chairman of the Institute of Ecotechnics and head of Wastewater Gardens International. The system was originally developed as part of the pioneering Biosphere 2 closed ecological system in Arizona. The system uses the technology of subsurface flow constructed wetlands so that there is never any exposed wastewater – thus preventing odor and accidental human contact.
Wastewater Gardens are an ecological, low cost, low maintenance solution to the problem of human waste. Improperly treated sewage causes ecological damage, pollutes drinking water supplies, and is literally a waste of potentially valuable freshwater enriched with nutrients in a world increasingly short of water resources. Using no mechanical or moving parts and no chemicals, all wastewater is recycled via a gravity system into elegant, biologically diverse gardens that produce lovely flowers as well as fruit and vegetables that can be eaten by humans, fodder crops for animal consumption or fuel-wood and fiber. The systems are carefully sealed so no wastewater contaminates the soil, ground water, rivers, lakes, or coastal waters.
Big Thanks to: Zabel Corporation, and Brian Borders for parts and filters for the Wastewater Garden. Firestone Corporation, and Marco Seiber for the donation of the liner for the Wastewater Garden and with all the help in getting it to us on time.
This Waste Water garden was built with a Grant from the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales Puerto Rico. Gracious thanks to all those who made it possible.
