Appropriate Technology: is technology that is appropriate to the environmental, cultural and economic situation it is intended for. An Appropriate Technology, in this sense, typically requires fewer resources, as well as lower cost and less impact on the environment (Wikipedia).
Biodiesel: a substitute for diesel fuel made wholly or partly from organic products, especially processed vegetable oils such as soybean oil and peanut oil (Encarta Online Encyclopedia).
Bogotá: capital of Colombia. It is located near the center of the country, in the Andes Mountains.
Caribbean Pine / Carib pine: Pinus caribaea. A pine tree native to Central America and the Caribbean. It is able to grow in bad soils and was brought to Las Gaviotas to be grown in large plantations.
Colophony / colophonia: a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, produced by heating fresh liquid resin. It is hard and semi-transparent and varies in color from yellow to black. It is also called "rosin." The rosin used for violin bows is colophony. (Adapted from Wikipedia).
Colombia: northernmost country in South America.
Deciduous forest: a forest in which most of the trees lose their leaves in the dry season (in the tropics) or in the fall and winter (in norther regions where there is a cold season).
Desolate: bare, uninhabited, deserted.
Dormant: when applied to to seeds or plants, it means temporarily not active, not growing. In the case of Las Gaviotas, it is thought that many of the native plants that sprouted under the pine tree plantation, grew from seeds that had been dormant in the ground and didn't sprout before because the soil conditions weren't right.
Dry Season: many low-lying tropical regions have two seasons - the dry and rainy season, with little temperature variation from one to the other (it is warm year-round). During the dry season in the Llanos, it stops raining for 5 months, the grasses turn brown, and creeks and ponds dry out.
Ecology: the study of the relationships between living organisms and their interactions with their natural or developed environment (Encarta Online Dictionary).
Engineer: a person who uses science and creative thinking to design machines, buildings or any other structures, tools, roads - AYTHING that is manufactured or made by humans, usually for the purpose of making a job easier or possible .
Entusiasmo: enthusiasm
FARC: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia: the largest marxist guerrilla group in Colombia.
Fungus: a single-celled or multicellular organism without chlorophyll that reproduces by spores and lives by absorbing nutrients from organic matter. Fungi include mildews, molds, mushrooms, rusts, smuts, and yeasts (Encarta Online Dictionary).
Gaviota: a bird - gull or tern. Lives near water. Pronounced "gah-vee-OH-tah"
Gaviotas: plural of gaviota
Guahibo: a member of the Guahibo Indian tribe of the Llanos of Colombia. The Guahibos are the most common tribe near Las Gaviotas.
Guerrilla: an informal group of people or small army that usually is opposed to the government in its country, and fights against the government using unpredictable war tactics usually not approved for official armies.
Guerrillero: a soldier in a guerrilla group or army.
Invent: to create, to think of something new. Las Gaviotas is a place where a remarkable number of new machines and ways of doing things have been invented.
Las Gaviotas: literally "The Gulls." Name given to the special eco-village featured in Entusiasmo!
Llanero: from the Llanos
Llanos: grasslands or savannas located in Colombia and Venezuela, to the north and west of the great Orinoco River.
Mycorrhiza: a mutually beneficial association of a fungus and the roots of a plant such as a conifer or an orchid, in which the plant's mineral absorption is enhanced and the fungus obtains nutrients (Encarta Online Dictionary). Note: in Las Gaviotas, the roots of young pine trees are dipped into a solution that contains mycorrhizal fungi (plural of fungus). The fungus allows the pine trees to absorb minerals from the poor soils of the Llanos, which they couldn't do on their own, and in turn, the roots of the pine trees provide the fungus with the nutrients it needs in order to grow.
Orinoco River: large and very important South American river that mostly flows through the middle of Venezuela from west to east, but also marks part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
Paolo Lugari: Colombian-Italian man who established Las Gaviotas and has dedicated his life to developing technology and agricultural and forestry activities that benefit the poor and and strengthen the economy while protecting the environment.
Rain forest: a thick forest found in areas of heavy rainfall and containing trees with broad leaves that form a continuous canopy all year round. Rain forests occur primarily in tropical areas, but not exclusively (Encarta Online Dictionary, adapted by Karin Stein). Note: several sources indicate that a rain forest is regenerating itself under the canopy of the pine plantation at Las Gaviotas. A more accurate term is probably to call it a deciduous forest, based on what I know about the Llanos from having grown up there, and from my own research. Rain forests occur in ares where it rains all year round. Deciduous forests occur in areas where there are distinct rainy and dry seasons, as is the case in the Llanos. During the dry season. most species in a deciduous forest will drop their leaves and go semi-dormant until the rainy season returns (Karin Stein).
Rainy Season: many low-lying tropical regions have two seasons - the dry and rainy season, with little temperature variation from one to the other (it is warm year-round). During the rainy season in the Llanos, it rains heavily every day or almost every day. This season, during which trees and grasses are green and the rivers flood large portions of the savannas, occurs approximately between April and November.
Resin: a semisolid substance secreted in the sap of some plants and trees. It is used in varnishes, paints, adhesives, inks, and medicines (Encarta Online Dictionary).
Savanna: grassland similar to the prairie; tends occur on flat landscapes.
Sleeve Pump: a special water pump invented at Las Gaviotas that makes it easy to pump water from deep wells.
Solar: originating from the sun, relating to the sun
Solar Heating: the heating of something, such as buildings or water, with technology that uses the sun as a source of energy. Using the energy of the sun is considered safe and sustainable.
Solar Technology: Technology that uses the energy of the sun to make something work.
Sustainable: something that can be maintained. Something that doesn't destroy the balance of something else.
Sustainable Technology: technology that allows humans to use the environment without destroying its balance in the short or long run.
Technology: the study, development, and application of devices, machines, and techniques for manufacturing and productive processes (Encarta Online Dictionary).
Tropical: from the tropics, in the tropics. The tropics are a large region along the entire Equator (around the entire circumference of the world), where it is very warm all year round, except in the mountains, where it is much colder, and where there can even be snow. Las Gaviotas is located in the lowlands of eastern Colombia, and Colombia is in the tropics, so it is very warm at Las Gaviotas all year round.
Visionary: a person with foresight and imagination, willing to try things that others believe to be impossible.
Wind Mill: usually a tower with a set of blades at the top, which are arranged in a circle. These blades look like the propeller of an airplane and turn when the winds blows. Wind mills are usually attached to water pumping systems or electric generators, which means people use them to pump water from the ground or obtain electricity. Using energy from the wind, like using energy from the sun, is considered safe and sustainable.

Do you have suggestions for words that should be added to this glossary, or changes that should be made? Please e-mail costari@iowatelecom.net