Ecosystem restoration: help restore primary rainforest in the Andean Mountains, Colombia

Infos

• 

  Description

  Hola! My name is Oscar. My siblings and I are working to restore primary rainforest in the Colombian Andean Mountains, the “Home of the Condor”. Our family have been stewards of this land for the past 200 years. Currently, we have a carbon-neutral organic farm, Finca, where we raise free-range dairy cattle and are producing granadilla to take to market. The majority of our land, however, is native grassland and untouched primary rainforest. We are a Civil Society Nature Reserve, members of OECMs (OMEC), and members of the World's Protected Areas, (Proyecto Paisajes Sostenibles).
  
  This place is located about 2000 meters above sea level in the north Tolima region — 20 minutes away from the unique town of Murillo, with its colorful bernacular architecture, and 20 minutes from the wonderful small city of Libano which is surrounded by beautiful green mountains and pleasant coffee farms.
  
  This region is home to primary forest that previously connected the Andean rainforest with the Amazon from the South to the North of Colombia and beyond. Our farm has spectacular views down to the Magdalena River Valley, up to Parque Nacional Natural de los Nevados, the wonderful Nevado del Ruiz, and the Geoparque Volcanico del Ruiz. It is such a quiet and peaceful space.
  
  In recent centuries, much of the native forest was cleared and used to grow wheat and herd cattle. Due to Colombia’s civil conflicts over the past 7 decades, the region’s development was put on hold and we even had to abandon the countryside for 20 years. Unfortunately, the war provided ideal conditions for Industrial Agriculture corporations to enter the picture, promising local farmers large profits and a better future if they bought and applied agro-chemicals.
  
  Our goal is to change this system, to heal the land — not only by educating and empowering local farmers and communities, but also by leading through example by restoring fragmented primary rainforest. In an effort with other farmers, land-owners, local universities, and NGOs, who want to move forward with peace, hope, and socio-environmental justice, we are taking on a project to restore and reconnect the ancient Andean forest to the Amazon by creating the socio-environmental corridor of the Nevados.
  
  This restoration project is in its investment stage — currently, we are building housing for workers and volunteers. Once we have more economic stability, we can not only restore many of our pasturelands to rainforest (which is heavily taxed by the government), but we can employ local people to help us with this project and pay them above-standard salaries — after all, restoration projects take time.
  
  We invite those passionate about this important socio-environmental project to join us — whether you’re a traveler, a passionate environmentalist, a landscape architect, biologist, a healer, a lover of people and animals, or someone who enjoys an amazing view — we welcome you with Colombian hospitality, and offer you a traditional homesteading experience, in addition to ecosystem restoration experience. For interested students, we are happy to serve as references or to write you Letters of Recommendation.
  
  More details:
  
  The farm is often in the clouds, which makes the ambience feel a bit mysterious. The temperature up here is mild — in the intense sun, the days can be warm and the nights cold. Clean rivers from the mountain provide us with fresh drinking water. The main building of the farm is a beautiful old, "Bahareque" house which has a lot of plants, flowers, and big terraces around it. Free range cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, ducks and rabbits roam around the property. We have a subsistence garden of vegetables and aromatic herbs, orchards (granadillas, uchuvas, avocados, guamas, lulos, sapotes, feijoa, limes, figs, blackberries) and grains.
  
  We are open-minded people who also love traveling -- half of the year I live in Japan! Please reach out with any questions. We look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to this special place.
  
  
  歡迎來到我們的農場,
  Willkommen,
  ようこそ
  Bienvenue
  स्वागतम्‌
  Welkom
  Bienvenidos.

• 

  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bénévolat

  Projets artistiques

  Pratique d’une langue

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Enseignement

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Aide dans une ferme

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
• 

  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

  ×

  ...

  ...

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
• 

  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Most people living and working on the farm only speak Spanish, which provides the opportunity to improve your Spanish skills. But don't worry, my brothers and I (some of them used to live in the USA for years) speak English and are always around to help.
  
  During your stay, you can learn about traditional farm life in Colombia -- you have the chance to milk the cows (5 - 6 am everyday), ride horses through the pastures and foothills of the Nevado, learn about growing and harvesting native foods and herbs, learn how to make incense, natural soaps, candles, salt bath bottles, etc., work on trail-building, and even species identification. We can also teach you how to cook with fresh, local ingredients .
  
  We Colombians love to share fun time by the campfire while enjoying beautiful views, wonderful starry nights above, and sparking fireflies in the dark night... it's magical.

• 

  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

• 

  Aide

  As I mentioned, currently we are building a house for workers and volunteers, so we are now seeking help with:
  - construction (we teach you!)
  - general farm maintenance (helping in the garden, planting new grasses, composting, etc.)
  - English and ecology teachers. You will teach local kids from age 5 to 15.
  
  In the coming months, work will be more restoration-oriented:
  - species identification
  - trail building
  - creating bird-watching sites / monitoring birds
  - seed saving and planting
  - planting and management of eucalyptus forest (for use in building projects)
  - helping with the Socio-Environmental Corridor project (coordination, art, video-editing, community outreach and education, fundraising, etc.)
  
  We call on those with specialties in landscape architecture, environmental design, art, linguistics, biology, zoology, ecology, botany, community management, etc. to join our mission and take on a project!
  
  We are flexible with the work schedule and the types of work you do, especially if you are passionate about a specific project. If you want to travel around for a couple of days we can arrange that!

• 

  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Courant
  Italien: Courant
  Catalan: Intermédiaire
  Japonais: Intermédiaire
  Portugais: Intermédiaire

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il souhaitait faire partager sa propre langue ou en apprendre une nouvelle.
  Contactez-le pour en savoir plus.
  
• 

  Hébergement

  You will get a bed in a shared room (dormitory style) in our beautiful farmhouses. Bathrooms are also shared.
  
  We have hot showers but laundry is by-hand.

• 

  Autres infos...

  We have WIFI in the house.
  
  In your free time you can chill at the farm, pet animals, go bird-watching, or even ride horses (for free).
  20 minutes down the road you will find Líbano, a small city with shopping options and some day and night life.
  Beautiful is also the small town of Murillo with its bernacular houses made of colorful "Tabla Parada". It is located in front of the magnificent Nevado del Ruiz, about 20 minutes by car up the mountain.
  You can go to both of those towns by public transport for about $1.00 (US dollar).
  Near the volcano, on one of the highest roads in the world, there are two thermal hot springs with impressive features around and a rainbow river. You can also reach this destinations by bus.

• 

  Informations complémentaires

  • 

    Accès Internet

  • 

    Accès Internet limité

  • 

    Nous avons des animaux

  • 

    Nous sommes fumeurs

  • 

    Familles bienvenues

• 

  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il aimait accueillir les digital nomads.

• 

  Espace pour garer des vans

  Cet hôte a de la place pour les vans.

• 

  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  Cet hôte a dit qu’il acceptait les personnes voyageant avec un animal.

• 

  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

• 

  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4 hours a day, 5 days a week

Feedback (11)