* The volunteers will be transported (round trip) to the location since the organizers will cover these expenses.
* On Sundays, the Park holds a community yoga activity, after which, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., they sell agro-ecological meals with freshly harvested ingredients from their garden.
Collaborators of the Encuentro Natural Park, a voluntary conservation space, invite citizens to the first reforestation campaign, which will take place on August 21, 2021, and aims to restore the health and safety of the forests of Chiapas.
Lander Nicholson, a collaborator of the Encuentro Natural Park through the organization Pies a la Tierra, said that one of the actions they promote is reforestation, this was due to the donation made by Rancho Lum Ha ‘, of 1,120 endemic trees of the Highlands of Chiapas.
Through the campaign, they seek the regeneration of the forests of Chiapas and that society has these healthy, healthy ecosystems rich in diversity.
Another objective is to promote the visit to the Park as a beneficial space for everyone, and to publicize the actions carried out by the Lum Ha ‘Ranch with its forest nursery project.
In addition to this, that the population is encouraged to donate resources to expand the capacity to produce trees and plant forests not only for the Park but for other communities, institutions, or parks.
Nicholson said that the activity will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the meeting point is the Church of Guadalupe in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
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Among the activities to be carried out, there is the introduction on the regeneration of the soils through the planting of trees, they will provide information on the more than 10 varieties to be spread, and they will form teams to go to the areas to be reforested, they will be in charge of the hauling of the trees, elaboration of the holes and the sowing.
For their part, the collaborators will offer vegan food from their kitchen project “El Comal”, where they have an agroecological garden.
We ask you to bring fruits to share, but you can stay until 5:00 p.m., we ask for a minimum of four hours of work -approximately between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.-, we ask you to bring your comfort boots Rubber, hat, raincoats, clothing to be in the mountains, if you have a tool such as a pick or hole digger you can bring it, however, it is not mandatory, said Nicholson.
He emphasized that there is a limit of 40 volunteers to attend the campaign, therefore, those who are interested in participating can send a message to the number: 967 156 8970 (only WhatsApp), to set aside and confirm their place.
Encuentro Natural Park
In the Parque Encuentro they can learn about biodiversity, agroecology and ecotenia. Courtesy: Parque Encuentro / Facebook
Nicholson commented that the property of the Park was acquired by the Beltrán Family, a little more than 15 years ago, with the intention of conserving the space, which at that time consisted of 140 hectares.
He also said that Noe Beltrán led the conservation of the space, despite problems such as pressure from urban growth, illegal logging, constructions that were encroaching on the property, and fires in order to encourage a sale.
He mentioned that, in 2016, organizations such as Cántaro Azul, Pronatura Sur, and Pies a la Tierra, joined the family’s work, and formed a network of reserves to strengthen the property.
About 3 months ago it was possible to sign a conservation easement, more than 100 hectares for conservation, 6 hectares for restoration and 6 for recreational area. In the Park there is a spring, the Fogotic River passes, it is an important ecosystem, explained the collaborator.
He added that said ecosystem fed water to the basin, when it was drilled the water ended up in the tunnel, which emerges a few kilometers ahead of the Encuentro Park and becomes the San Cristóbal de Las Casas drainage system and ends towards Pozo Colorado.
On the other hand, Nicholson pointed out that two months ago there was a wave of violence in San Cristóbal de Las Casas and all of Chiapas, in the center of that city they assaulted people, they killed someone with a bullet in the head in the Reliquary, they shot another person in the leg as he was leaving an ATM, several foreigners were beaten, and two assault attempts were made in the La Canastas areas.
As a result of what happened in Las Canastas, which is near the Park, they are organizing themselves so that they do not go through a similar situation, and continue to be a safe space for the enjoyment of all.
He reaffirmed that in the Park they have constant surveillance, therefore, in about 5 years they have not presented any criminal or violent case.
We call on society to continue coming to these spaces so that organized crime does not come and take these places as their own, in these moments of general violence they show solidarity with the Park so that this does not happen, we are between 5 to 10 people who are constantly coming to the Park to make a presence, but for all the hectares that comprise it, it is not enough, said Nicholson.
Feet to the ground
On Sundays, you can enjoy delicious food with Pies a la Tierra in Encuentro Park.
Nicholson along with his friends founded the organization Pies a la Tierra, they promote agro economics, reconstruction, and agrotechnologies as tools for education, they also work on soil regeneration issues, workshops with teachers and students, and advise projects within Chiapas.
One of the places where we participate is in the Encuentro Park, there we have a space, it is an agroecological garden, where on Sundays we sell food, do volunteer work, workshops, carry out actions for the conservation of the Park, located by Las Canastas, behind Rancho San Nicolas, Nicholson finished.
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