NOTICE

AS OF DECEMBER 2 2021

THIS BLOG IS CONTINUED ON

News and Opinion - The Vetiver Network International

Vetiver Grass Technology for Small Tropical Islands.

 

Currently there are a number of initiatives using various vetiver applications, especially for soil conservation, pollution control, and slope stabilization. Most are funded locally and by small UNDP and other regional grants. A lot can be done with a little money and by folks whom are committed to working with local and mostly poor communities. Here is a video that June Slinger, CEO of Eco Strategies Grenada, sent me about a vetiver program in Grenada, Caribbean. -- https://vimeo.com/589975013 that she is responsible for. Well produced (18 minute)

 

On the other side of the world a Vetiver pilot program is launched and funded for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The attached (39 minutes) video is a recording of the project launch meeting held early this week by Zoom. It includes a useful presentation by Robinson Vanoh who is the Vetiver Coordinator for the South Pacific Islands. Robinson is a committed and experienced in Vetiver. He lives in Papua New Guinea , and is an Assistant Director of TVNI. He will also be the external advisor to the program. Paul Oana, CEO of Pacific Exchange (a local NGO) is project manager. We wish them and the participants good luck

https://youtu.be/hO9wcrMrbXY

 

Both of these programs are short term pilot/start up vetiver projects that are small enough to be funded through regional and local aid offices. If successful they should be able to attract funds for scale up operations and projects.

 

Ist International Webinar on Vetiver Grass Technology 2021

 Central Bicol State University of Agriculture of the Philippines  https://cbsua.edu.ph/ is holding a webinar on Vetiver Grass Technology on September 28th 2021. Dick Grimshaw, Paul Truong and Robinson Vanoh of TVNI  will be participating. See attached program:

Sharing Vetiver Projects on iNaturalist -- NEW PROJECT

Goals of The Vetiver Network International (TVNI) include creating a worldwide community of vetiver enthusiasts, raising awareness about the many benefits, and tracking vetiver projects. Our facebook group has become a wonderful resource for many of you and we are proud of the community it has created. We had concerns about the preservation of the facebook posts and important discussions, so we also created the vetiver forum (https://www.vetiver.org/flux/).

However, neither of those help us track and map vetiver plantings. To provide a tracking method, we started using the iVGT website created in Thailand to add as many vetiver sites as possible, but it has had some technical difficulties and participation hasn’t been as high as we had hoped. We recently realized there may be a better and much more user-friendly website that we can all use.

iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/) is a website and smartphone app for people to share pictures of animals and plants and to help identify species. It is used as a social network to build community, learn about nature, and provide open access data for researchers. It is very user-friendly, and you can easily search by species or location and view results as a list or within a map. The desktop website is the main hub with a lot of great functions while the smartphone app is a simpler set-up that helps ID and locate in the field.

Although its core focus is on wild species in their natural habitats, iNaturalist offers the ability to share “captive” or “cultivated” plants and animals that were placed at a certain location by humans. This includes a range of observations, from animals at a zoo to a flower planted in a garden. This is where most of our vetiver applications fit in.

The iNaturalist provides the ability to create a “Project” to track certain species or in specific areas, as well as build community and participation, so TVNI recently created a project page called “Vetiver Systems”. We hope you all join iNaturalist and start sharing your vetiver projects!

Getting Started

First, create a profile at https://www.inaturalist.org/. Once you are set up, you can change your language within the website by clicking on your account profile circle in the top right corner and then clicking on Account Settings, then Account. They have a large list of languages available, so this should work out well for our global community.

Adding a Vetiver Project

A picture of a plant/animal is called an “observation”. For general guidance on how to add observations, visit: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started.

1. To add a picture of vetiver, click “Upload” and select ONE photo from your file (You’ll have a chance to add more photos of that site later). Complete the requested information, including species, date of the picture, and location. For the Notes, add a brief summary of the vetiver project (i.e. purpose, size, details, results). Please avoid commercial advertising or spam-like content because it will get you banned from the website.

2. Next, check the Captive/Cultivated box. Most of the vetiver plants used in Vetiver Systems are sterile and cultivated, so it is important to list it as such in iNaturalist.  The website’s main focus is on wild plants and animals and it uses a multi-step process for identifications, which helps researchers with their studies as well as assist the program with recognizing patterns for automated suggestions. To accomplish this, the website initially labels non-cultivated or non-captive observations “Needs ID”, then as the community agrees on an identification, it becomes “Research Grade.” If an observation is checked off as captive or cultivated, it does not undergo those labeling steps and instead simply marked as “Casual.” This is okay for our purpose! To learn more, visit: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help.

3. After that, “Tags” are key words about your vetiver project. This will help people search and track vetiver sites based on type. Here are some examples of tags that you can use:

· Erosion control
· Slope stabilization
· Nursery/propagation
· Grazing/forage
· Wastewater
· Essential oil
· Phytoremediation
· Landscaping
· Handicrafts
· Roof thatch

4. The next step allows you to add “Observations Fields” to help provide detail. We set up 5 observation fields that we encourage you to use. Start typing vetiver in the space and the options will appear:

• # of plants
• Area in hectares
• Soil pH
• Soil type
• Annual rainfall in mm

5. Click “Submit 1 Observation” to finalize. Once you finalize the “observation”, you can add more photos of that vetiver planting, add or change the tags, or edit any other information as needed.

Please note it is important to add only specific sites where vetiver has been observed. Also, if you have been working with vetiver in the past and have photos of vetiver applications at known locations and dates, you are welcome and encouraged to add them as observations.

The Vetiver Systems Project Page

Your vetiver “observation” will automatically be added to our Vetiver Systems Project page, but you need to “JOIN” the project for it to show up on your vetiver observation. You can find our Project by typing “Vetiver Systems” in the general Search at the top of the page. Once you are on our page, you can see all the pictures, either as a list or on a map. You can click on each one to see the details or add comments. There are already some earlier vetiver observations from other iNaturalist users.

We welcome you to check out other observations in our project so far and tell others about our page. You can leave a comment on any observation or vetiver system, but be aware, COMMERCIAL ADVERTIZING is not allowed and we will ban you from the group.

Another great feature of the Vetiver Systems Project page is our ability to post news or journal entries. Our administrators will occasionally post on this page to help grow the community and keep you informed. Note, you need to “JOIN” the project to get the community updates.

We will also be inviting key members from specific countries or regions to help promote this Vetiver Systems project and to keep an eye on the "quality" of input. As the project expands, regional/country leaders can start creating their own project pages and then our global Vetiver Systems page will become an “umbrella” project.

Let us know if you have any questions by leaving a message for one of the project administrators. Enjoy!

Haiti -- Vetiver Latrine update by Roger Gietzen

In 2016 while doing community development work in a rural farming region in Haiti, I became aware of the serious sanitation problem.  Open defecation is the norm and diseases such as Cholera are active.  The locals suggested building a single community latrine for them, but I soon learned that wouldn’t work.  The traditional latrines are made from cement block which is not easily transported to a region like this, where there is no road access.  I learned from other organizations, that even if I could build one, it was not a real solution.  The “community latrine” is too far from most homes to actually get used regularly.  Plus since it is not owned by anyone, it is also not cared for by anyone.  In fact, in many communities the cement structure is so far superior to normal buildings that it is repurposed as a storage depot.

The real solution is to build household latrines.  But as a small nonprofit that is focused on regenerative agro-forestry, Global Freedom Project was not able to build a standard cement latrine for all of the families here, which the materials alone cost at least $250.  Luckily I discovered the work of Owen Lee, who a few years before me had encountered the same problem in Haiti and solved it by building the vetiver latrine.  After some back forth communication with him, I was able to get the idea of how to make this ultra inexpensive biological pit latrine myself.  The cost for materials alone, can be as low as $25!  If you want a detailed guidebook that explains how the latrine works and how to make your own, go this link and you’ll find it translated in multiple languages:  https://www.global-freedom-project.org/resources/.

Over the course of 3 years I was able to train a team of skilled workers how to install these simple, yet effective “toilets” as they are called in Haiti.  We set a goal of making about 300 and succeeded.  Midway through this project, I reported an update here:  https://vetivernetinternational.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-vetiver-latrine.html, where I discuss some of the modifications the people made, so that the latrine was more acceptable.  I also talked about the biggest challenge I faced, which was a lack of recognition of the importance of the vetiver grass.  Some families pulled the grass slips out and planted ornamental plants.  Others removed them and build a privacy shelter.  In other cases, the kids trampled the grass beyond recognition.  In all cases, the biggest problem was that the families were unaware that this was potentially a major problem.

Vetiver grass serves multiple important purposes.  The roots stabilize the pit walls, so no concrete blocks are needed.  The roots also digest the waste and as leachate passes through them, it is cleaned.  The grass hedgerow that matures in the first year, makes a thick privacy wall that really does keep prying eyes away.  To help convey these important messages, I created an infographic in Haitian Creole that the installation team could use to educate families before they built the latrine.  That simple action solved the problem.  When families realized their latrine pit risked collapse without vetiver, they took efforts to protect it.

I have considered reviving this project, but have hesitated due to the lack of a clear goal for the next step.  Even with the first project there was supposed to be a defined community of about 300 families, but as we reached that predetermined number, I realized there was always another neighbor next door.  I felt that although the recipients loved their toilets, they didn’t appreciate the amount of efforts needed to make this a reality for them.  I wasn’t sure how to make this project more sustainable and ensure the recipients participated more.  Recently I got inspiration from another project that specializes in household water filters.  They have found that charging a small fee (the equivalent of about $5 USD) for their $100 filters, substantially improved how well the family cared for that item.  The chances that the filter, once paid for, was still operating years later were much higher.  I believe this would be true for the vetiver latrine as well.

Another change I am considering, is devising an elevated a precast cement toilet seat, which could be attached to the slab that covers the pit.  That was the most common modification made by families during the first project.  Some elderly people are not able to use the toilets without them because of bad knees.  The combination of paying a small amount for the latrine and adding an elevated seat would likely increase the longevity and popularity of the vetiver latrine. 

It is my wish that someday the people of these communities become more empowered and rise above their current challenges.  Maybe in this lifetime they can have access to running water at their homes and have flush toilets, in which case the vetiver latrine will become obsolete solution.  But in the meantime, it’s important to have an immediately available solution.  Diarrheal illnesses are active and the basics such as clean water, sanitation and healthy nutrition are the foundation for which further progress can be built on.  I am happy to have discovered an answer to at least one of these problems and hope that it becomes a more widely used form of sanitation in Haiti and elsewhere.

We constructed 365 "vetiver toilets" and had only two failures. The failures were due to the pits filling up with water before completion, before the vetiver had been planted and the concrete tops put in place.

Roger Gietzen January 2021