In the 1980s, after failing to cultivate different crops, the residents of Gaviotas began planting a variety of Caribbean pine, a suggestion that Paolo Lugari received during a trip to Venezuela. With funding from the Colombian and Japanese governments, they planted millions of seedlings, inoculating the roots with special fungi to help them establish themselves in the region’s poor, acidic soil. Little by little, the tall pine trees began to offer shade and humidity, allowing the planting of other species and crops — something that was previously practically impossible.
Over time, more than 250 species of plants began to grow in this revitalized soil, and dozens of species of mammals — such as deer, capybaras and tapirs — returned to inhabit the area.
Today, around 30% of the food consumed by the community comes from this forest, according to Lugari. They grow lemons, oranges, lychees, tamarind, coffee, bananas, guavas and more. “It’s edible, and the edible forest has an extraordinary advantage, because the species we have are permanent, they’re here all year round — we eat the trees, the plants, the bushes,” he says. “There’s a saying that sums it up: ‘Plant once and reap forever’.”
Scientists and botanists from Gaviotas also began to extract resin from pine trees, making incisions in the trunk and processing the material in a steam-powered biofactory. Today, the community produces derivatives such as turpentine — used as a disinfectant and in the manufacture of perfumes — and rosin, used in paints, varnishes and some types of makeup.
Residents also use biofuels produced from pine oil grown in Gaviotas, mixed with palm oil, to fuel tractors and motorcycles that travel through the artificial forest — and also export this fuel to other regions of the country. (Research indicates that pine oil and other biofuels are cleaner alternatives to petroleum-derived fuels, although they still generate emissions.)
