Re: [pf] Gaviotas tree question

by Kaleopono

29 December 2000 01:02 UTC

Sharon, I found the following:

"They kept searching for some plant that could survive the llanos soil and
finally found it. A Caribbean pine from Venezuela thrived, they discovered,
as long as they dipped the roots of its seedlings in a fungus, a mycorrhyza,
which was missing from their soil but importable from the pines' native
territory. Without knowing quite why, they planted hundreds of acres of
pines.

"As the pines grew into forests, the Gaviotans found a use for them. They
tapped their oozing gum, which could be distilled (with solar energy) into
turpentine and a valuable resin used in paints, glues, cosmetics, perfume,
and medicines. There was a huge market. Gaviotas had a new industry.

"The pines dropped needles and built up soil. They cooled the ground, slowed
the wind, raised the humidity. Suddenly new kinds of plants sprang up
beneath them -- hundreds of kinds of plants. The rainforest, not far to the
south, had once grown here, and now, through seeds carried by birds or roots
creeping up from the river-edges, it was returning."

...at:   http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/living_on_sun.htm and

After years of experimentation, Gaviotas scientists discovered that
Caribbean pines from Honduras could flourish in the area's thin, highly
acidic soil, and the bark resin could be harvested without cutting down the
spreading forest. Tapped like maple syrup, the natural resin is used in
paints, cosmetics, perfumes, and medicines in lieu of petroleum-based
substances. When distilled in Gaviotas' pollution-free factory, its
byproduct is marketable turpentine.

Besides providing a sustainable living, the pines have also created what
biologists call an unimaginable miracle: In their sheltered understory, a
tropical forest not seen for millennia in these savannas has regenerated,
restoring the habitat of already proliferating deer, hawks, and anteaters.
The 250 native plant species thus far identified inspired Gaviotans to
convert their pharmacy into an herbal apothecary and begin an ethnobotanical
research lab with local Guahibo Indians. Many Guahibos and rural peasants
now live in Gaviotas, riding to work on Gaviotas-designed savanna bicycles,
the official mode of transportation. The newest projects include a purified
water bottling plant and a musical instrument factory, using wood culled
from the pine forest.

In the midst of Colombia's ongoing civil upheaval, drug wars, and
environmental stresses, Gaviotas has evolved into a community of peace and
sanity. A place without police or politicians, it proves that even the
leanest environments provide rich tools and resources if people choose to
live sensibly. "If we can do it here," says Paolo Lugari, "it can happen
anywhere."

...at:  http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/MA98/weisman.html

Here's a link to a book, Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World
http://www.dharma-haven.org/five-havens/gaviotas.htm

At the bottom is contact information for Gaviotas (no email) from which you
might be able to obtain the specific species of the Carribean pines they
have planted.

Kaleopono


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse@one.net>
To: <positive-futures@igc.topica.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2000 4:04 AM
Subject: Re: [pf] Fork in the evolution road/Gaviotas tree question


> One way to help the water situation is to grow crops within a permaculture
> setting which preserves the water and also uses it multiple times within
> the setting.   Another part is to grow crops biointensively which uses
> a small fraction of the water of current standard agriculture.  By
> starting seeds in seed trays, you use a lot less water to get the plants
> started.  Then by planting them out at close spacings, a humid
> microclimate is created.  The close spacing keeps the ground covered,
> slowing evaporation.
>
> In the current row agriculture, the farmer creates rows of deserts between
the
> plants which creates the sort of problems you would expect from a
> desert which is one of the reasons biointensive close spacing is
> such a big help.
>
> Another big help is trees.  As a general rule of thumb, an adult tree has
> a positive effect on the environment about 100 miles away due to
> what it brings into the atmosphere and the way it brings up deep
> water.  It's closer effects are easier to see.  A windbreak helps
> with housing comfort and energy costs.  A windbreak by a garden
> helps crops out to  6 times its height.  For example, trees or
> shrubs 7 feet high, would help a up to garden 42 feet wide from
> the windbreak.
>
> In Gaviotas  in the desert in Columbia, one type of tree was planted to
> coincide with natural rainfall.  After a number of years there was
> a large amount of diversity in the forest as a result of birds drawn
> to the trees, who deposited  fertilizer and seeds from meals in other
> areas.  I was wondering if anyone knows about this tree.  I have
> a friend in a desert area wanting to find out about it.
>
> Sharon
> gordonse@one.net