The Misaks: Balance and Harmony as Medicine
For the peaceful Misak people of Colombia’s Andean region, harmony and balance are the most important medicines, and they are willing to fight for them.
Protecting the páramos in Colombia
On a recent, pre-pandemic journey to the High Andes of Colombia, I found myself surrounded by one of the region’s emblematic species, the flowering shrubs known locally as frailejones or “big monks.” These giant plants, relatives of sunflowers from the Espeletia genus, mesmerized me, their yellow buds and silvery hairs glistening in the intense, ephemeral sunlight. Looking out over […]
Caring for Colombia's Dynamic Rivers
From the emblematic Magdalena River, which begins high in the Andes as a Sacred Source and descends into the industrial valleys to a overused and contaminated course, to the groundbreaking case of the Atrato River, which gained international attention in 2017 when it was granted the rights of personhood under Colombia’s Rights of Nature law, Colombia’s rivers have much to teach us.
Colombia, with its biological, cultural and hydrological richness, has become a trailblazer in legally formalizing Rights of Nature, beginning with the 2017 Judgement of the Atrato River, but to what end?
Pandemic and Power on Native Lands
Strengthening the socio-ecological systems of Indigenous communities is an urgent priority for achieving global “sustainable development” and environmental goals. For Indigenous people to remain resilient stewards of ecosystems and culture in the face of anticipated threats like climate change and territorial exploitation, however, as well as unanticipated threats like the COVID-19 pandemic that induced present […]
Igniting regeneration. A Latin American Permaculture Convergence in Colombia
Story and photos by Ivan Kuxan Suum Ancient Futures Lead photo by Adrian Felipe Pera The recent Latin American Permaculture Convergence (or CLAP ) was held from the 15th to the 21st of June in Varsana Ecovillage south of Bogota, Colombia. For five consecutive days the different open-air and indoor spaces of the host community hosted a buzzing […]
Colombians changing the world with color and style
My time in Colombia was so full of amazing people and organizations that it didn’t leave me time to write as much as I would have liked. This roundup gives a little information about each of them, with hopes to come back to each of them with more information later. Perhaps more than any country […]
El Hatico cattle ranch: The problem is the solution
VALLE DE CAUCA, Colombia – When Alicia Calle, an environmental scientist with Yale’s Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative, first told me of El Hatico Nature Reserve, her face lit up for the first time since I’d met her an hour ago. We’d been talking about the state of the environment in Colombia, a subject with […]
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