Las Gaviotas is a village of about 200 people in Colombia, South America. It was established in 1971 in a very remote region of Colombia's eastern savannas or "Llanos," by Colombian visionary and development specialist Paolo Lugari. Las Gaviotas was established with the purpose of proving that independent, sustainable living is possible in poor, inhospitable, remote regions.
For three decades, Gaviotans - peasants, scientists, artists, and former street kids - have applied themselves to build an oasis of imagination and sustainability in the remote, desolate savannas of eastern Colombia, an area ravaged by political terror. Guerrillas and armies have left Las Gaviotas unharmed because they respect the neutral approach and valuable work of the Gaviotans.
Gaviotans have planted millions of pine trees (Pinus caribaea), under which an indigenous rainforest has regenerated spontaneously, an ecosystem which had disappeared from the savannas thousands of years ago due to geological phenomena. Many more million trees are being planted at present.
Every family enjoys free housing, community meals, and schooling. There are no weapons, no police, no jail. There is no mayor.
Gaviotans have invented 50% of the technology listed by the United Nations' "Appropriate Technologies" list. The special water pumps (reverse sleeve pumps) the Gaviotans invented to reach deep aquifers proved so easy to use, that they hooked them to children's seesaws. Next they developed solar "kettles" to sterilize drinking water, windmills to convert mild tropical breezes into energy, solar water heaters that work in the rain, and soil-free hydroponic systems to raise edible and medicinal crops.
Las Gaviotas is exemplary of human creativity and sustainable living. Through invention, ingenuity, imagination, and "entusiasmo" (enthusiasm), Gaviotans have lived self-sufficiently while developing technologies that benefit the poor areas of the world and reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming. They live in peace in the middle of a war torn country and have become a beacon of hope to the world.
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Since Weisman's book first appeared (1998) and ¡Entusiasmo! was produced (2003), the following new developments have taken place:
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Las Gaviotas now has a biodiesel facility in its Bogotá headquarters that is capable of running on pure vegetable oil or biodiesel. (Bogotá is the capital of Colombia.)
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The community is generating power with turbine engines fueled by the aging Caribbean pine trees in their forest. These pines are being slowly crowded out by the regeneration of indigenous rainforest.
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Gaviotans have discovered that their pine forest can produce twice as much resin as any other resin-tapping forest in the world. Tree tappers normally use sulfuric acid when making incisions, but Gaviotans use an enzyme that appears to be beneficial for the trees. The use of a mycorrhizal fungus on the roots of the trees when planting the seelings, may also contribute to the resin productivity of the adult trees.
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Gaviotans have converted their former hospital into a water purification and bottling center, which also serves a public health purpose: by providing fresh drinking water to the local population they are reducing gastro-intestinal ailments that over the years have cost the lives of thousands of children and adults in the savannas. They have recently designed a unique water bottle that children can assemble like Lego blocks.
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A pine tree mega-plantation of 80,000 hectares (198,000 acres) is planned around Gaviotas and another 45,000 hectares (111,000 acres) at the nearby Marandúa Airforce Base. If realized, a huge area of rainforest would eventually re-emerge, whose establishment and subsequent uses could support several self-sufficient villages like Las Gaviotas and make major contributions to the Colombian economy. Especially outstanding in this plan is the fact that the land at Marandúa is owned by the Colombian Air Force, and by agreeing to participate in Lugari's plan, the Air Force acknowledges that peace and development is only feasible if and when
this land generates income.
Source: copied and adapted from
http://www.friendsofgaviotas.org, http://www.scizerinm.org, and http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1998/03/weisman.html?welcome=true
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Map showing the location of Las Gaviotas in eastern Colombia.
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