Ecuador Green City Project
Hello Peter Berg,
On Sat, 13 Nov 1999 08:23:03 +0000 you sent the corrected version of
>ECUADOR GREEN CITY REVISITED, AUGUST '99>
>by Peter Berg
You introduced it with the following two paragraphs :
>When the people of a small urban area decide to pass a law declaring
>an "ecological city," it is an unusual and laudable act
of public
>dedication. If there are already some extensive reforestation projects
>immediately nearby, and a non-profit estuary protection agency that
>employs local residents along the river as workers and guides, this
>city could strive to actually become harmonious with its surrounding
>natural systems. And if it is located in the "undeveloped world"
and
>thereby offers a working model for the entire planet (including
the
>"developed" world), it presents a glowing vision of sustainabilty
to
>tempt any fervent reinhabitant, an irresistible opportunity to help
>create the first truly bioregional Green City
>
>Planet Drum Foundation (PDF) has begun a long-term partnership with
>Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador, a community devastated in 1998 by El
Nino
>mudslides and a severe earthquake. The city decided to rebuild itself
>as a "Ciudad Ecologica"and passed a by-law to that effect
in February
>1999. As PDF's Director, I was invited to assist and spent a month
>there organizing community consciousness through strategy meetings,
>talks, interviews, media appearances, workshops, and planning sessions
>aimed toward an Eco-Gathering for the Bahia de Caraquez Ecological
>City Declaration and International Mangrove Day Celebration (described
>in DISPATCHES FROM ECUADOR, available from Planet Drum Books).
>
cut
The right conditions seem to be present in Bahia de Caraquez, to motivate
the people to establish a special economic zone in their area. It would
be tested there whether the capacity of the consumer to deduct, from taxable
income, the money they had spent on ecological products, enables mankind
to live in harmony with Nature. This accounting capacity is introduced
in the separate mail : "EU control system does not assure safe food
Nov. 15 version II". The article ends with a demand of support for
the creation of a similar area in Bahia, Bresil. The suppport of the inhabitants
of Bahia de Caraquez for such an area, could create the energy to realise
both projects. People in Bahia, Bresil could do the research and development
of the tools and techniques which you need to build up an ecological industry,
for example.
Would you be kind to let me know what the people think about my proposal?
In the mean time, I will put this mail at the ZERO web site as the ECUADOR
GREEN CITY project.
As separate mail : "EU control system does not assure safe food,
Nov. 16 version"
From: planetdrum@igc.org
To: BIOREGIONAL
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 09:35:53 +0000
Subject: Re: ECUADOR GREEN CITY REVISTED, AUGUST'99
Dear Wm.,
I'll take this info to Bahia and see what people think.
Peter Berg
