Origen del Agua Project
The dream of Origen del Agua
Our Story
The dream of Origen del Agua proved powerful enough to attract resources to purchase this land, gather a team of negotiators for the purchase, and later bring volunteers to help in person and virtually from all over the planet.
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The dreaming was done by many and continues to attract more people to participate.
This is the heart of walking the design pathway for regenerating the Earth. This heavily degraded landscape evoked a dream in many of us for a restored watershed and healthy forest ecosystems. The story of our success raising funds and navigating many challenges to complete the purchase has brought others to touch the ground and be moved by this special place.
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A major theme for regenerative cultures is that we need to work through grief and trauma so that we can become healers of ecosystems. There are many internal patterns of resistance -- both psychological and interpersonal -- that make it hard to believe in the beauty of our dreams. A collective dream has been born and is being expressed through a diffuse network of people who mostly initially did not know each other.
The Origen del Agua Nature Reserve was purchased with donations that were given to the Barichara Regeneration Fund, which partners with the Design School for Regenerating Earth. The Reserve hosts a number of projects, which together are weaving the foundation to restore this piece of land in Barichara.
For example, in our first summer we were busy gathering native orchids from "danger zones" where they are being destroyed by housing construction in other parts of the territory. This was work done by Oswaldo Escobar -- a biologist who lives in Barichara and specializes in ecological relationships between birds and plants. This is one project among many that is being supported by the Barichara Regeneration Fund. We are prototyping a model for bioregional investment with every aspect of this Fund. You can contribute a donation here if you feel inspired to do so.
