Planting Design in the Ecuadorian Andes: Memory, Resilience, and Re-Connection

Abstract

Modern cities are constantly growing and evolving. This expansion of urban development bleeds into the surrounding landscapes, causing the displacement and disturbance of native plant and animal species to remote areas where topography limits human access. As a result, metropolitan areas often become gray places with low biodiversity, elevated temperatures, poor air quality, flood issues, and lack of a local identity. Quito, Ecuador is one of the cities facing this important challenge. Perched high in the Andes, Quito is a place of great biodiversity, nevertheless the constructed landscapes are dominated by introduced species due to colonization and to the lack of availability of native species in the nursery trade. This article walks through the creation of a native nursery in Quito and the implementation of initial trial plots, a green roof, and a garden. It explains the discoveries made during the process and provides directions for future goals to reintroduce native plant species into urban environments and contemporary landscapes in order to create more sustainable cities. The goal is to help people reconnect with their natural heritage and to learn about native plants to ensure the continuity of ancestral knowledge of the natural world for future generations.

Keywords

Native Plant Species / Trial Garden / Plant Observation / Andes Mountains / Ecuador

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press