The Focus Of Our Efforts
Ijolli proposes to create an ecological corridor, maintaining the optimal conditions for the survival of keystone species such as the jaguar (Panthera onca); and to conserve and restore the existing ecosystems and watersheds within the Reserve.
Ijolli maintains that everything which is produced in the Reserve speaks about the identity of a village and the folklore and process of a country that has deeply struggled to be where it is today.
Through cultural Identity, Ijolli aspires to create a direct and harmonious exchange with the natural resources and inhabitants of the region; an infrastructure for the people to recognize their essence, tradition and legacy.
Ijolli aims to create the school of Ancestral Knowledge of the Earth (SNAKE) that has the adequate infrastructure for the indigenous people to teach their practices and traditional ecological knowledge
EDUCATION & OUTREACH
Execution of workshops in the School of Ancestral Knowledge of the Earth (SNAKE) on diverse themes such as ancestral wisdom, visual arts, movement arts, agroecology, permaculture, Tairona engineering, carpentry, women’s empowerment, responsible natural resource and waste management, weaving, hydraulic systems, renewable energy and bio-architecture, among others.
Lectures on environmental education complemented with didactic material directed to the students of the local villages
Classroom Without Walls - Field days in the forest with local students
Agro-economy
Boost and promote the organic cultivation of coffee and cacao with practices that are aligned with agroforestry
Establish a co-operative cacao and coffee farm on the land, as well as work with locals to regenerate farmlands through agroforestry, thereby creating a direct-trade system and economically viable community
Build a coffee and cacao processing plant within the Reserve
Develop biodegradable and artisanal products and packaging with local plants and natural elements
Create the first educational and regenerative tourism replicable model in La Sierra
Plant an edible food forest using permaculture techniques
Strengthen the buffer zone between indigenous ancestral land and farming land to prevent further encroachment on indigenous territories
Environmentally regenerative, culturally pertinent and economically viable activities to promote alternative and sustainable income generation
Culture
Build the first ecological house that will serve as a mountain cultural space, the Casa Templo (Temple House), applying bio-architecture principles
Create a center dedicated to healing and wellness within the sacred spaces of the Reserve and in the ones that need to be revitalized; and receive groups of different educational platforms for their retreats
Build ecological forest quarters in order to host teachers, workshop organizers, scientists, healers and the projects' personnel
Enable the adequate infrastructure to organize immersive retreats
Ecosystem Conservation
Purchase the Green Heart land, which contains the water source of the river basin; purchase the Tradefield land to implement a large scale permaculture and reforestation program; and purchase other portions of land in order to connect the Tairona National Park with the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park
Create an ecological corridor from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park mountain peaks down to the coastal Tairona National Park
Conserve and responsibly manage water resources
Install camera traps to monitor keystone species
Reintroduce species that have drastically declined such as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Tapir (Tapirus terrestris colombianus) and the Neotropical Otter (Lontra longicaudis)
Articulate different public and private natural reserves from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Reforest and restore degraded land with native tree species and especially the scarcest ones, including mahogany, coastal cedar, and other hardwoods
Support altruistic research
Protect life in all of its forms, considering the region’s remarkable biodiversity