The Gaviotas Experiment

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Gaviotas began to gain international attention as a model community during the energy crisis of the 1970s, winning a major grant and commendation from the United Nations in 1976. The Gaviotans were lauded not only for their technological ingenuity but also for creating an oasis of social harmony in a nation torn apart by political violence, drug trafficking wars, and attacks on indigenous people.

When oil prices plunged in 1986, the world forgot about renewable energyóand about Gaviotas. The election of a conservative president in Colombia in 1990 made things even worse: Many of the rural development and social programs that had funded Gaviotas' work were axed. Even the hospital was forced to close, under new health care policies favoring large private institutions.

Yet the Gaviotans' spirit of playful creativityótheir penchant for pursuing an idea on little more than a hunch that it might provide interesting resultsóended up saving the community from oblivion. In the early days, Professor Sven Zethelius of the University of the Andes tried planting many different kinds of trees on the outskirts of the village to see how they would fare in the harsh climate. One species, a tropical pine from Honduras, thrived in the llanos. It also produced a resin that could be marketed as a key ingredient in a range of cosmetics, medicines, paints, glues, shoes, and chewing gum. It was a timely discovery in an era when more and more manufacturers are choosing natural materials over synthetic substitutes.

With funding from Japanese sources through the Inter-American Development Bank, the Gaviotans planted millions of these trees and launched a thriving business. But even more importantly, they discovered that their pine forests are setting the stage for the return of the rainforests. Not only do the trees stimulate the growth of native plant species in the undercoveró245 in all, according to one countóbut since they can't reproduce on their own in this climate, they'll eventually die out and let the native species take over, returning the llanos to the diverse rainforest it once was.

'There are 250 million hectares of savannas like these in South America alone,' notes Lugari. 'If we show the world how to plant them in sustainable forests, we can give people productive lives and maybe absorb enough carbon dioxide to stabilize global warming in the process.'Everywhere else they're tearing down the rainforests,' he adds. 'We're showing how to put them back.'

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