Regenerating ancestral land
Indigenous land holds the biggest part of global biodiversity today. We buy back the ancestral territory of the Kogi and hand it over to them, so they can engage in what they are experts in – regenerate the earth.
Why we buy back ancestral land for the Kogi
The Kogi are record-beating land regenerators. They managed to restore land degraded from illicit drug cultivation and overgrazing in a few years.
However, they follow a process very different to us because they work with the underlying natural order of life itself to create lush forests and thriving ecosystems once more.
Munekan Masha:
Helping the earth to thrive again
The Kogi have a special way to regenerate their land, providing amazing results with regards to biodiversity. Humans are not the primary agents of this regeneration process but their role is rather to create and sustain the right conditions for the land to regenerate herself.
Here we give a general overview of the main steps this process involves.
Analysing the sacred sites of the land
First, the Kogi Mamos identify sacred sites in the returned piece of land and analyse if any damage has been done to the sites or if they are still healthy and active. This work gets energetically reviewed with the help of the oracle.
Clearing the thoughts and support the land
Then they clear the land from the thoughts that have caused any damage to the land and are still lingering there, even though the former owners are long gone. Energetic and physical offerings are done regularly at the sacred sites by the Mamos to strengthen the life force of the area again.
Letting the earth thrive again
The Kogi then witness the earth restore herself. Sometimes invasive species are removed but hardly ever are trees or plants planted by humans. The Mamos support the self-healing power of the ecosystem energetically and trust nature’s intelligence in doing the physical work.
Cabildo Gobernador Kogi speaks about the land
“Without a territory you are nothing as a people. You must own your land and guard it well. Where do you get your knowledge from? Where do you get your strength from? You get it from the mountains, you get it from the rivers, you get it from the trees.
Every people was left with a land that they should take care of. In the beginning of time, they were handed over the original instructions on how to care for their territory and leave it in a good state for future generations.
Where are these instructions? They can be found in the sacred sites. There you can learn everything.” – Arregoces Conchacala
A Mamo explains the territory
“Any ancestral territory is like a body. It has organs, a head, legs, a heart and veins. If you cut of any part of the territory it is like damaging any part of the body, it will always affect the whole body.
The trees are like the hair, but the minerals in the ground are the organs. Hair can grow again, but if you take out an organ, how will you live? How will you put it back?
Most don’t understand that the minerals and metals in the ground keep the life above it in balance. They should never be damaged or taken, otherwise the earth dies.” – Mama Shibulata
The Kogi's land buyback goals
The Kogi are currently living in the middle and higher ranges of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta together with their three neighbouring tribes.
The lower ranges are still occupied by non-indigenous farmers and Colombian towns and dwellings. The Kogi have several goals for their land buyback and we support them with:
Creating a continuous corridor of indigenous land from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the shores of the Caribbean sea
Recovering all the sacred sites in the ancestral territory encompassed by the “black line”
Regenerating the land and creating habitat for the species that are threatened or got extinct in the lower ranges of the mountains
The process of acquiring a piece of land
Frequently Asked Questions
The ancestors of the Kogi, the great Tairona civilization once inhabited a big area in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Kogi are their descendants and have a right to get their ancestral land back. This will not only benefit them but the whole world as they regenerate the land and create biodiversity.
The Kogi present us different pieces of land and we choose one according to our current financial situation and the priorities of the Kogi.
The owners are the indigenous Kogi people, represented by political organisation the Organizacion Gonawindua Tayrona.
The ownership is regulated in a Columbian title and is not limited by time.
Nowadays the Kogi have their own lawyers who fight for the land rights of the Kogi in court and are very successful with that.
This is a very difficult question as the Kogi have pieces of land they prioritise. Theoretically they want to buyback all the land within the “black line”. As the process of the land buyback is slow, the prices of the land change every year and no total amount can be calculated.
Because that is unfortunately the situation that many indigenous people all over the world are in, even though we are already in the 21st century.
No, the closer you come to the beach of the Caribbean Sea, the more expensive it gets.
They live on 20-30% of it and regenerate 70-80% and give it back to nature.
Running Projects
Buying land in Europe
The Kogi have always pointed out that we should apply everything we learn from them on our lands. Therefore we are looking for land in Europe and the Kogi oracle has pointed out: Italy it is.
On a piece of land of around 100 hectares or more, we would like to find out together with the Mamos how land regeneration and cultivation can work in Europe including the sacred sites and invisible structure of a territory.
Therefore we are looking for pieces of land including buildings being sold in Italy (preferably middle and northern part). If you know of any, please let us know.
Buying a 108 hectare finca
The Kogi asked us to prioritize the buyback of a finca with 108 hectares. This finca is located near the village of Awiaka and costs roughly 275,000€. The land contains many sacred sites and has been degraded heavily over the last decades due to overgrazing.
On this piece of land, we plan to work together with the Mamos and a university and analyze in detail the land regeneration process of the Kogi. This is planned to be paralleled with the land regeneration project in Italy as a sister project. We are looking for donations for both the land buyback in Colombia and the research project.
Completed Projects
Finca of 4 hectares
Next to the Kogi village of Awiaka is a small piece of land that has a very high value to the Kogi. Not only is it located in an area that has been heavily logged by their previous Columbian owners and used for their cattle, there lie a few very important sacred sites in that piece of land. We have been able to raise the money to buy back that important piece of land and hand it over to their rightful guardians once more: the Kogi.
Finca of 59 hectares
On the steep mountain slope lies a piece of land that is very biodivers. Apart from the sacred sites in this place, it is home to many of the precious wild animals that live in the lower ranges of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. We have been able to raise the money to buy back that important piece of land and hand it over to their rightful guardians once more: the Kogi. Now they leave it mostly alone and don’t settle there due to its string inclination. Only the Mamos come to give their offerings at the sacred sites.