When Javier Lijo bought almost 4 hectares of deforested land on top of a Panamanian island, he had one eye on the waves.
A fan of surfing, the Argentine had always dreamed of a quiet life by the sea, far from the huge car-ridden Latin American cities. But his love of sustainable living led him in another direction.
Over 20 years, and with the help of the local indigenous people nogäbe-bugléturned his land on Bastimentos Island, on the Caribbean coast of Panama, into a thriving, forested ecological paradise.
Lijo hopes his example will serve as a model for others who want to revive deforested land.
The 52-year-old removes sodden leaves from a plant as he leads visitors on a tour of his organic farm called Up in the Hill, explaining that water retention in this particular species is so great that “you can shower with her”.
To the clueless, their lands seem wild. But most areno cultivatedyes: in one part there are timber trees for furniture, in another cacao trees for chocolate, near the top an herb garden, and throughout the forest a great variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers.
He sells most of what he grows to the local people.
When Lijo bought the land in 1996 it was grazing land for cows, full of mosquitoes and flies, but he fell in love with it anyway.
Then he read about the theory of permaculture, a sustainable way of life that emphasizes recycling and reducing the impact on the planet. From there, he came up with the idea of an ecological farm without pesticides, where everything had a use.
His idea was to unite “education, work with the community, the diversity of materials on the farm, different ways of earning money and living.”
First he had to learn the basics, and for this he turned to the indigenous people who have been caring for the forests of Panama for centuries.
The Ngäbe-Buglé Indians have several settlements nearby.
Lijo met Benjamín Aguilar, 53, in 2000, when he asked for his help cutting down trees on the farm.
He advised her on how to manage the land, what to plant and what trees to use for wood.
“I taught him how to produce cacao, how to ferment it and how long it takes to roast it,” recalls Aguilar.
Lijo claims that the Ngäbe-Buglé have taught him “everything” he knows about land management. “They have a lot of knowledge: it is generation after generationhundreds and hundreds of years.”
ancient knowledge
He is not the only one who has realized the value of indigenous knowledge for forest conservation, especially considering that more than half of Panama’s mature forest is located on indigenous territory.
One of the world’s leading tropical biology research institutes, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), conducts a number of projects in which its scientists work alongside indigenous peoples.
Professor Catherine Potvin, a STRI Research Associate who leads more than 20 years working with indigenous people in Panama, explains why this approach works so well.
“Indigenous people do not necessarily farm to get rich and make big companies. They don’t have that concept of economic growth,” he says.
“They are only looking for sustainability. They want to maintain themselves and their territory long-term“.
Indigenous land management also provides “green infrastructure” that can protect the environment, such as intact forest soil, which can absorb water to prevent flooding and release it during the dry season to prevent drought.
Lijo has noticed that the quality of the soil on his land has improved since he started reforesting it. He also increased biodiversity, with a wide variety of animals, such as monkeys, birds, bees, and armadillos, returning to the farm, previously used for grazing cattle.
The most notable are strawberry dart frogs. A nearby beach is named after him, but their numbers had dwindled as tourism and clear-cutting of farmland threatened their habitat.
“For more than three years (after buying the land) we never saw the frogs, but now they are everywhere,” Lijo explains.
His work is a microcosm of what happens elsewhere in Panama.
From owner to owner
Jefferson S. Hall is a STRI scientist who has led the reforestation efforts that have protected the Panama Canal from flooding.
In October, the institute reached an agreement with the Ngäbe-Buglé to create a reforestation project in their territory that will sequester carbon and improve the ecosystem.
“At first they were skeptical, as they had seen outsiders make a lot of promises, promises they haven’t kept,” says Hall.
“We are at the beginning of a long-term relationship. We are at the beginning of our learning curve. We have been impressed, but not necessarily surprised, by people’s enthusiasm for planting trees.”
As for Lijo’s project, the academic insists that it may be small, but he is convinced that even small efforts have the potential to pay off.
“One of the phrases that I often repeat is that reforestation must be done from owner to owner,” he says.
“So good for the person who did it.”
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.
