Agroecology at Sol y Verde
Our land and our protected forest act as experimental sites where we trial various farming and restoration methods that draw from permaculture and ancestral mayan wisdoms. While what we do encompasses regenerative farming, agroforestry, reforestation... we prefer to call it agroecology: practices that enhance the long-term sustainability of agricultural systems by promoting ecological balance and enhancing the natural resources on which we depends.
Since being granted our land in Paxcaman - a deforested pastured land destined to become a landfill - we have worked hard to restore our land and experiment with reforesting and farming practices. Sol y Verde is a prototyping project, where everything we do with our land is done with minimal funding and minimum tools, to ensure replicability. We have split our land into 5 key zones (see map below) and are running:
Our restoration and farming work is done with the support and partnerships of Guatemala’s Ministry of Agriculture, and the University of Tabasco in Mexico.
Our Approach
Taking inspiration from permaculture design and observing the local landscape, we decided to divide our project site into different zones, depending on ecological conditions and level of active restoration work needed. As part of the zoning process, we collaboratively created our own permaculture ethics and principles of design, trying to stay as close as possible to Holmgren’s globally accepted definitions whilst also weaving in local campesino and Mayan knowledge to make the principles locally applicable. We follow the Mayan lunar planting calendar and mark seasonal changes with gratitude ceremonies for mother earth.Most of the surrounding farms are experiencing decreasing production, due to persistent monoculture planting and agrochemical application.These systems make crops much more vulnerable to droughts and plagues, and leave farmers with the singular option of cattle rearing. Local fruit and vegetable production is scarce and available products are rarely organic, resulting in widespread malnutrition and the majority of the population suffering from stomach problems or diabetes (Guatemala is #1 in Latin America for chronic child malnutrition). Medical care is not easily accessible, so there is an urgent need to improve education and production of healthy foods and medicinal plants.
Responding to these issues, we are committed to making all of our zones demonstrative and collaborative, offering local community members the opportunity to learn and experiment through participation and observation. This allows us to combine practical, hands-on learning with classroom learning (in our Education Centre) in all our on-site programmes.
We have already planted up most of our site with local youth groups and volunteers, but the restoration process is a long term mission and we are continuously growing our biodiversity and adding in more layers of ecological complexit
We have already planted up most of our site with local youth groups and volunteers, but the restoration process is a long term mission and we are continuously growing our biodiversity and adding in more layers of ecological complexit
Our Paxcaman site is divided into 5 management zones:
Zone 0 - Buildings (the Education Centre, the campsite, the tool shed)
Zone 1 - Subsistence Food (organic vegetable garden, fishpond, community allotments)
Zone 2 - Intensive Production (medicinal plant gardens and tree nursery)
Zone 3 - Seasonal Production (ginger/turmeric/banana agroforestry plots, cacao and firewood trees plantation, composts, beehives)
Zone 4 - Long-term Production (food forest using alley cropping and contour lines, vanilla plantation)
Zone 5 - Conservation (20 year old forest requiring protection and supplementary tree planting)
Zone 0 - Buildings (the Education Centre, the campsite, the tool shed)
Zone 1 - Subsistence Food (organic vegetable garden, fishpond, community allotments)
Zone 2 - Intensive Production (medicinal plant gardens and tree nursery)
Zone 3 - Seasonal Production (ginger/turmeric/banana agroforestry plots, cacao and firewood trees plantation, composts, beehives)
Zone 4 - Long-term Production (food forest using alley cropping and contour lines, vanilla plantation)
Zone 5 - Conservation (20 year old forest requiring protection and supplementary tree planting)
Menu