The water forest effort looks to support campesino strategies for reforestation and water recovery in the Altos and Selva communities of the Chiapas. This initial research marks our first step on the path toward finding solutions. Rosa Lopez Valentín presents a practical approach for community water recovery and recharge of water tables through the implementation of […]
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“Development” and Extraction: Water Scarcity in Chiapas
The colors of the May rains. How many greens can there be? The green of the grass reflected in the hanging dewdrops, the shadowy greens of the river cypresses, the purple green, the silent green of the pines, the dignity in the stillness of the fog that surrounds the scene; a mountain slope of conifers […]
Lupita’s Secret – bilingual
“El Secreto de Lupita” cuenta la historia de cómo las comunidades organizadas del sureste mexicano resisten ante los megaproyectos del mal gobierno. “He disfrutado mucho este trabajo porque creo firmemente que es importante explorar con dispositivos narrativos diferentes que sean didácticos, creativos y, por qué no, divertidos. “
Edible Forest workshop photos
Zapatista Food Forests of Today: Recouping Ancient Mayan Knowledge
Beginning in 2015, Mayan students, education promoters, and other Zapatistas began the process of constructing 18 multi-species food forests in several climatic zones of Chiapas, Mexico ranging from a mile-high oak/pine forests to lowlands rain forests.
Food forests represent an ancient, alternative agricultural system which can provide food, medicine, and many other useful products through mimicking the ecology of a young forest. The ancient Mayan civilization was one of many cultures around the world which utilized perennial food forests to meet their basic needs.
For the Zapatistas their efforts to plant food forests today is a recuperation of agricultural practices utilized by their ancestors; it is also a practical response to the bankruptcy of contemporary commercial agriculture and food distribution systems. Within today’s modern Mayan communities, Zapatista educators, students, and activists are uncovering, documenting, and utilizing a rich reservoir of biological knowledge still practiced by their parents and grandparents.
