We are doing something that feels deeply powerful and transformative with our process to create a new non-profit organization called Tierra Sagrada Barichara. The purpose of this organization is to bring land into the commons so that it can serve the regeneration of our territory.
This is some of the deepest work to bring about transformation of the local culture and economy. We see Tierra Sagrada Barichara as a legal structure that can receive land if we purchase it. It can also organize the community processes that lead to robust social agreements about sharing land for a common cause -- including for land that is not purchased.
For example, we are initiating a conversation about paying off the taxes on a piece of land connected with Bioparque Móncora that can become the permanent home for our Waldorf school Sueños del Bosque. There is an option to purchase the land from a local organization that is the current owner -- Associación Aquileo Parra -- but it is much stronger to enter into a long-term partnership with them because their members include many community leaders from the territory.
This opens up the potential to work with many other projects in the future that builds trust and areas for collaboration beyond the piece of land itself. Similarly, we are mapping out the ecological corridors and watershed restoration efforts using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) where it is possible to make visible the strategic value of social agreements for large-scale reforestation and the creation of new economic models that protect local families from being displaced while we transition into regenerative frameworks.
These processes are built from the ground up. They require land to come into shared agendas with clear agreements and investment pathways. As an example, many pieces of degraded land in our territory have a few cows or goats on them. These animals further degrade the soils and vegetation. Yet local farmers do not have another way to bring in money that supports their families. If we can raise money to pay for the creation of agro-forestry systems that do this ecological work and also provide livelihoods, new social agreements can be made that enable processes to unfold over the span of several years.
Tierra Sagrada Barichara seeks to become a trusted local ally for this kind of work across our territory. One of the ways we are laying the foundations for robust community engagement is to work with a local expert in the evolution and transformation of conflicts named Felipe Medina. He is helping us create the frameworks for agreements with three types of partnerships:
This is design work that is emerging now. Earlier this week, we met with Felipe to outline key elements for how we can offer reciprocity to donors who support the work of Tierra Sagrada Barichara. The graphic at the top of this post shows what we see as four different ways that donors can receive from what they give into Barichara.
We see four patterns of reciprocity that arise from the profound strength and uniqueness of Barichara: Healing, Inspiration, Learning, and Sanctuary. I would like to explain more about each so that you can see how regenerative finance truly is built on trust in relationship among us.
Healing
People who donate to Barichara will be offered a variety of ways that they can seek healing from our territory. The word "Barichara" is an indigenous name from the local Guane people that means a place to rest. The energy here is deeply healing.
We will offer invitations to our donors to come to Barichara for the healing they need. This might take the form of staying in ecological cabins that we construct on the land that is part of our network. It could be receiving customized healing packages from the large and diverse healing community that includes meditation, body work, plant medicine, and more.
Inspiration
Many of our donors are inspired by the work that is unfolding in Barichara. This is another way to receive by giving into our local community. Inspiration might take the form of knowing that positive regenerative impacts are taking place somewhere in the world. Trees are planted and native forest is protected. Rivers are restored. Different kinds of economic life are coming into being. More wholesome models of education can be seen.
Some of our donors simply want to feel that they are making a difference. And this is a big deal all by itself.
Learning
A lot of the donations we have received so far are so that partners and friends all over the world can learn from what we are doing. They participate in the Design School for Regenerating Earth to share learning with their own bioregions. They gather case studies and new process models for regeneration at the bioregional scale. They get to see what is happening with education and economics in the deep spirit of regeneration.
Donors may also want to come to Barichara through programs like Suna Barichara or the immersions that we organize through partnerships between the Design School and our territorial foundation Barichara Regenerativa. Some donors may come for mentorship or to volunteer in local projects. Or they provide scholarships so that others can do so.
Sanctuary
It is a sobering truth that many people feel the grief and anxiety of collapse as the world goes through profound and dangerous changes. Some of our donors will seek refuge as fascism takes hold in their own country or if local food systems collapse where they are living now.
We recognize this as an important -- albeit delicate -- theme for offering reciprocity to those who contribute to the acquisition of community land and the larger regeneration of landscapes in Colombia.
Creating the Conditions for Transformation
Hopefully this blog post begins revealing the path we are on to transform the local economy and culture. There is a LOT more that I could say -- and we will share our progress as we go. For now, I just wanted to show how we are clarifying the reciprocity agreements that can be made with donors who support our work in Barichara.
We will share the reciprocity agreements that we create for local land owners and community members who become part of Tierra Sagrada Barichara. Our timeline is that this important groundwork is being laid between now and early November. We plan to legally constitute the new Colombian non-profit during this timeframe.
If you feel moved to enter into one of these reciprocity agreements now, you can donate to our work here. Or share your thoughts in the comments below. We have a US fiscal sponsor that we work with for our global work that also serves to receive money and send it to Barichara.
Onward, fellow humans.
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