Serendipity Projects

Recovery of Traditional Territories and Protection of Sacred Sites - the "Heart of the World"

The snowcapped peak of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the world's largest coastal massif, reaching an altitude of 5,775 meters just 46 kilometers from the Caribbean coast.  Isolated from the rest of the Andes, there are 22 unique species of birds that can only be found in our territory, such as the Santa Marta Parakeet and the White-tipped Quetzal. This is the traditional territory of the Indigenous people - a microcosm of South America with all the continent's ecosystems here and all its problems as well.

This area is sacred to the 53,000 indigenous people that populate its slopes.  They are descendants of the great ancient South American civilization of the Tayrona and are presently divided into four ethnic groups - Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco, and Kankuamo.  According to their worldview the massif, Cerro Gonawindua, is the Mother of the Universe and the mountain's health controls the health of the entire planet. 

According to these Indigenous people, they believe we are the guardians of the "Heart of the World" and our rituals maintain balance and fertility of life. We are the Elder Brothers of humankind and have evolved the ancient Tayrona culture into a highly devotional culture of peace and harmony with nature and our surroundings. 

They consider the non-indigenous to be Younger Brothers and they want to communicate to them how the Mother of the Universe made them guardians of the laws of equilibrium of nature and the universe.  They believe the Younger Brother should learn this and believe in it so that the World will be at peace and harmony.  During decades, these Indigenous people have suffered from a succession of different forms of external invasions by the Younger Brother - most recently through illicit crops and illegally armed groups, which have affected their ecosystem and traditional way of life. It is estimated that 72% of the natural forest has been lost, the mountain glaciers have diminished due to global warming, their food is less secure and there is a great potential of a water crisis.

The Indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are now helping the Younger Brothers, the peasants that have settled in the middle and higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, to resettle on the lower, more fertile lands.  This allows them to return to our ancestral lands and reduces the pressure on the higher elevation meadows and water sources. 

The "Heart of the World" project seeks to recover ancestral territory in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - lands that are ecologically and culturally important. Proper stewardship of these lands will guarantee the protection of biodiversity, the natural regeneration of forest and vegetation, the protection of threatened sacred sites, the cultural survival and wellbeing of our people, and the protection of the fresh water resources that serve the 1.5 million inhabitants of the surrounding coastal areas. 
 

They urgently need to recover 14,000 hectares around a "Traditional Environmental Buffer Zone of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta". Funds will go directly to help the Younger Brothers to relocate and then these lands will be resettled by indigenous families who will eradicate illicit crops. Our commitment to the world is that 60% of these lands will be allowed to regenerate back into natural forest.  The remaining 40% of the lands will be used for the food security of the Indigenous people and the generation of environmentally sustainable income. 

A Special Indigenous Fund

Through the Marion Institute, we are asking for international support for this project that addresses the following:

   — Preservation of indigenous culture
   — Ecosystem restoration
   — Preservation of biodiversity
   — Global warming
   — Carbon sequestration
   — Preservation of water resources

Take action.

Make a donation for the recovery of traditional territories in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, so that the Indigenous people can deal efficiently and effectively with the problems that are affecting the "Heart of the World".

If you would like to help support the goals of the Heart of the World, please donate here.

Donate by mail
Please make checks made payable to the "Marion Institute" with "Heart of the World" noted in the memo line and send to:

Heart of the World
c/o Marion Institute
202 Spring St.
Marion, MA  02738

Ph:  508.748.0816
Fax:  508.748.1976
Website: www.corazondelmundo.org

Fiona Wilton
Heart of the World Liaison
fiona@gaianet.org