Forest Walking

Today we went out in search for some land, and we explored a very special corner of a larger farm. We are looking to purchase this piece to make a hidden hostel membership club with @ecobanker. The whole idea still needs a lot of work, and I need to meet with some lawyers still. But we are getting started either way!

This piece of land today was very intriguing because it was quite flat, and a partial secondary forest had been preserved, within which appeared some interesting features!

It appears that swampy lagunas have formed in the slowly decending foothills. These are likely Vernal pools, which is a special type of wetland ecology, but I won't be sure until at least a year of observation. Either way, this seems like a good sign! Access to water, even in the degraded quality indicated by its murkiness, is a great benefit to any development project.

Secondary forests can grow quite quickly, so a lot of progress is forest and soil quality can be noted in less than 10 years. While this is a low quality secondary forest, dozens if not hundreds of higher quality trees are already emerging from the forest floor under the shade cover of scrub. I have already begun documenting the power of scrub.

These foothills can be dry, rocky and prone to erosion but where natural systems take hold, I think these lands can have extraordinary value. The altitude of these foothills is just over 700 meters above sea level, seated above the Tolima Plains.

Many different plants grow down here than grow up at 1800 meters above sea level where we have our farm, such as mangoes and chocolate. This area could be somewhat of a base camp for further exploration into the Central Mountain Range of Colombia, which goes all the way up to more than 5000 meters above sea level in the mighty Ruiz Mountain which erupted laterally in 1985, wiping out the Colombian town of Armero.

Alternative production systems are on my mind. How can we take our rhetoric to the next level by bringing to bear multi-species productive systems? This involves some planning, but most of the observational research has been ongoing for almost a decade now. All that needs to be done is the serious work of selecting the species and designing an actual system, and implementing that system across a few acres or more.

These would be multi-strata production systems, with tall trees and medium sized trees, bushes, herbs and grass, plus don't forget about vines!

There are literally thousands of promising species in and across the region. Almost every species in the whole world grows here at some elevation or another. With human scale technologies and an eye to onsite transformation, intermediate goods such as essential oils can drastically increase the price per kilo of off site exports.

Another area that I have noted to focus on is wood products. Whether for firewood, charcoal, handles, posts, boards, woodchips, sawdust or any other of the thousands of uses for wood, WOOD as a material is one of the most important forest products in the history of mankind.

There is a lot of work to be done, so we'll just have to keep pushing! Sustainable development does not come by itself, so it seems. It takes conscious effort from us humans, to be the better versions of ourselves, to work to improve our lots in life. One interesting point I picked up recently from the mises institute is the following:

Source: Mises.org

While we may not be rational, we do all feel uneasiness, and I do believe that a more satisfactory state exists. All that's left then for us is the 'purposeful behavior' that 'has the power' to bring about a more satisfactory state.

To this more satisfactory state we each bear the immense responsibility of being the best versions of ourselves.

Freedom and Friendship

All photos are taken by and property of @ecoinstant