IOI's Strategic Partnership Advisor, Daniel Ponce Taylor, ponders what "regeneration" means today, as we slowly move forward with a new version of "normal."
At IOI, one way that we're "regenerating study abroad" is by using our regenerative agriculture project to not only teach students about its techniques and benefits but to also counterbalance the impact that study abroad travel has on the planet.
Ready to join the regenerative revolution?
Check out the article to learn more.
DEAR IOI COMMUNITY
It is the season to be grateful. Starting with Germany’s Erntedankfest on the first Sunday in October, versions of the same, mostly secular holiday are celebrated from Canada (on the second Monday of October), to Liberia (on the first Thursday in November), to Japan (on November 23), to Thanksgiving Day in the US and Brazil on the last Thursday in November.
While large family gatherings—the modern-day interpretation of this celebration—might be difficult during the Covid pandemic, the season gives us an opportunity to focus on the origins of this festival—being thankful for the year’s harvest. It is an important reminder that we should not take our food and land for granted. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that soils around the world are heading for depletion at a rate of 30 football fields a minute, with only an estimated 60(!) harvests left before our lands are too barren to feed the planet.
IOI has been leading regenerative agriculture programs for many years. While these programs increase the nutritional value of the local diet, bolster the local economy, and increase food sovereignty in remote locations, they are also part of IOI’s larger strategy to become a carbon negative organization, contributing to our overall mission to promote the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Concretely, IOI’s regenerative agriculture programs lower the local carbon footprint of food imports by 51 grams of carbon emissions per kilogram of food produced. In addition to lower rates of fertilizer and pesticide/herbicide use, our cattle breeding program helps to protect local soils. When pastures are managed responsibly, ruminants are an integral part of soil conservation and regeneration.
More on that in upcoming newsletters! For now, let’s be thankful for what we harvested this year (or for 2020 being almost over) and look forward to a new year with new politics, new vaccine and treatment options, and a re-opened IOI—all of which are looking very much in reach right now.
DEAR IOI COMMUNITY
As we enter the last quarter of 2020, it feels like a corner might be turned soon on a more-than-tumultuous year. From political turmoil to civic unrest, from lack of life-work-balance to working at home, from stock market crash to record recoveries on Wall (but not Main) Street. And all that before the backdrop of a Q4 that might yet pack the biggest punch, with US elections upcoming and societies moving life indoors as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere.
IOI has undergone a similar roller-coaster ride. On the coat-tails of last year's shift to align our programs with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we started the year by implementing our industry-leading 2022 Carbon Negative Initiative. Then came Covid, along with evacuations just ahead of border closures and ever-extending program shut-downs for the rest of 2020. I'll spare you the gory details, but we had to cut both our budget and our fixed cost by over two thirds. Such radical cuts are painful of course, mainly with regards to staffing. At one point we were a team of 14—currently, we are down to a single full-time employee holding down the fort in Galapagos.
But, we also found opportunity and made important progress. While society at large has found new vigor in opposing the world's injustices, IOI's community came together to help us survive, continue with innovation, and keep our spirits up during this time of crisis. Our relentless staff (now working part-time or volunteering) has been putting in countless hours of their time to continue fulfilling our commitments on the ground, as well as our program development. The government in Ecuador realized the importance of food sovereignty in the Galapagos, and IOI’s sustainable agriculture program got a long-awaited, major boost through their support. Our cost-cutting demanded a move to new facilities, which has left us in beautiful, new, and expanded installations in an even better location. We updated our health and safety protocols to state-of-the-art standards, including bubble approaches and frequent testing. Last, but not least, in the face of continued travel restrictions (SPOILER ALERT) we are developing new online programs that will be launched in November, which can stand as individual programs or serve as enhancements to our existing programming after opening our doors again in January.
With our study abroad programs cancelled, we are struggling to stay in business and depend on you more than ever. We are so grateful to those who have donated, spread the word, and participated in our fundraising efforts. A big thanks to UM alumni Carley Belanger and Sam Waddell for getting our first fundraiser started in May!
With your financial support, we have been able to donate basic 'food kits' to the families of the Galapagos initiative "Sustainable Isabela". These food kits, with staples like oil, rice, and lentils, are used by families in addition to the produce from their gardens.
In addition to providing 'food kits' for our families, we have also put together agricultural kits. These kits were donated to farmers in our sustainable agriculture program guarantee continuous local production and quality of local produce. The resulting produce is commercialized at the local outdoor food market in a continuous effort to ensure food security on the island.
This project is carried out in agreement with the Governing Council and the technical assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture.
All of our summer study abroad groups and volunteer programs have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
We need your help to be able to continue to serve our communities and the families you love!
Until now, IOI had been the only organization in the Galapagos working to increase food sovereignty from continental Ecuador while reducing the carbon footprint of products sent to the archipelago. Amid the crisis, the gravity of the islands' dependence on external provisions became abundantly clear, and the government is launching a program to strengthen local production.
In turn, our sustainable agriculture and urban gardening project is now the model for the statewide implementation of similar initiatives. IOI will be the coordinating agent of this government effort in Isabela County, reducing dependency on mainland shipments by 15%. Additionally, IOI staff and members of our Isabela Sostenible group will lead an effort to triple the amount of urban gardens in Puerto Villamil to 75.
As part of this effort, IOI will additionally coordinate the government’s disaster relief efforts in Isabela, serving as a food bank for local residents. The program will distribute weekly market baskets of produce from the agricultural program to 60 families in economic distress.
Our host families and community members update us through a WhatsApp chat about their harvests!
100% of your donations will go directly towards supporting IOI's food production and disaster relief efforts. Our committed front line staff and your host-families depend on your donations. Please help the survival of IOI during this crisis!
Learn more about how IOI is working through the pandemic in our May Newsletter and on our COVID-19 Response Page
Although we do not currently have participants at IOI, we have plenty of wonderful stories and memories from previous volunteers.
A sustainable agriculture volunteer wrote this lovely post about our EcoGarden at IOI:
While working in the IOI EcoGarden I heard a cacophony of chirping and noticed a finch flying into a nest built into the cactus in the IOI yard. It is a beautiful nest with lots of small twigs and natural cotton – did you know there is a native Galapagos Cotton Tree? Cactus finches nest in these Opuntia and they are back this year.
Can’t wait to see the babies!
Photo descriptions in order from left to right — Photo 1: Dad standing guard over the nest — Photo 2: Dad paying a visit to hatchlings — Photo 3: A protective mama chirps warnings at us when we get too close — Photo 4: The softest nest of cotton on a bed of needles
Just a few days later after they hatched, the finches have fledged!
I walked out of the second floor dorm room at IOI and looked at the beautiful Miyuyo tree, a native of Galapagos, with its beautiful yellow flowers. There in the top branches were two baby finches! They were a little wobbly on their legs and awkward as they few/hopped across the branches as they gave their wings a try. One male, one female, it appears. They are too cute!
Photo descriptions: Babies out of their nests and working on hopping! Did you know baby finches have pale beaks that will grow darker over time?
A big “thank you” to social media volunteer, Stefan Ascherl for these tips and photos!
As spring ends in the southern hemisphere, and approaches in the northern hemisphere, we'd love to share some quick gardening tips from our EcoGarden in Isabela Island, Galapagos. This garden, right outside of our IOI office, is used as a model for our urban farming program and for hands on activities/learning for children and adults!
What is an EcoGarden? It's gardening with the environment in mind - gardening sustainabily and with native plants. Interested in gardening, farming, and agriculture? Check out our sustainable farming and urban agriculture volunteer program!
Empty egg boxes are the perfect base for growing young plants!
Flowers are always appreciated, so we give them some space in our garden between all the green vegetables to give our garden a pop of color!
Although we don't encourage using single-use-coffee-cups, if there are any around, then use them to grow young plants like we do!
You can upcycle empty plastic bottles to grow plants in them. Just cut them in half and color them up!
By Claire Griffin, Study Abroad Student Fall 2019
Welcome back to IOI’s blog!
Pardon the hiatus in posts; our group is just coming back from a jam-packed fall break, during which my internet connection went from abysmal to nonexistent. But we’re back and better than ever!
Picking up from where we left off, our class with Dr. Drennan ended with some amazing field trips and a number of interesting projects. We spent several days surveying the popular snorkel spot Concha de Perla, using waterproof data tables to document species diversity within the estuary.
We later embarked on a day long boat ride to the remote and beautiful western side of Isabela, where the wildlife was like nothing we had ever seen. Right off the bat, we had the rare and fantastic chance to see Galapagos’ wild orcas. The duo gave us a fantastic show, hunting and breaching amidst a huge flock of birds, and to our delight even came right under the boat to check out the 16 squealing humans on its bow. While topping orcas is near impossible, the day progressed with a number of other magical encounters: Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorants, pelicans, blue footed boobies, frigates, albatross, sea turtles, sea lions, iguanas, and even an elusive Bryde’s Whale!
Also within these past two weeks: the 10th anniversary of IOI’s inception! We celebrated with an all-day fiesta in the highlands, inviting the whole community out to enjoy all varieties of food, artisan goods, games, competitions, farmers markets, live music, and tournaments in soccer and volleyball. Most exciting, however, was the launch of a novel local agricultural program called “Maria Rosa.” This groundbreaking program creates a network for local farmers, referred to as “Red de Producción y Consumo Local,” to market their goods to local restaurants and businesses, and in addition provides courses on sustainable farming practices. Maria Rosa thus aims to be an emblem of local production and sustainability paving a bright future for Isabela and the community.
The course finished with individual presentations on 16 endemic species here in the Galapagos. Each student conducted extensive research on their chosen species and presented on its geographic and ancestral origins, its speciation within the Galapagos, and its potential adaptations to and/or risks faced during periodic El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. I chose the Galapagos sea lion, and despite a heavy workload I genuinely enjoyed learning about the history and ecology of this charismatic species. Other project topics included everything from ferns to owls to iguanas, and everyone had a great time presenting on their chosen species!
After a tear-filled farewell to Dr. Drennan, we all set out on our various adventures. 12 of us stuck together to explore the other two main islands (San Cristobal and Santa Cruz), while the other 4 reunited with family members visiting from the US to then set off on their own expeditions, several embarking on weeklong cruises that explored the entire archipelago. Check out my next post (that’s right, you’ll be getting TWO in ONE WEEK!) to read student testimonials from both the 12-person trip and each of the individual trips. We’ll explore the myriad of adventures that Galapagos has to offer, and hopefully provide some insight for future Miami students and IOI participants planning their own excursions!
Until next time,
Claire Griffin
