ONLINE CURRENTS VOL3 - Flipbook - Page 40
In a lesser-known corner of the Mexican Yucatán Peninsula, not far from the coastal city of
Campeche, lies a community garden that offers a new perspective on the value of tree planting.
One of the things that make this garden unique is the way it has been allowed to develop on its own,
in tandem with natural processes of propagation and competition. Tending to it is a delicate
process that requires carefully observing which trees and plants naturally emerge from the ground,
only stepping in occasionally to prune and harvest what is actually necessary.
The result is an eclectic assemblage of native and rescued tree species: mango, neem, tamarind,
wild papaya, banana palms, and here and there the bright green thorny trunks of the sacred Mayan
Ceiba tree. This diverse canopy supports a wealth of other plants: undergrowth, vines, traditional
crops such as maize and yuca, as well as free-range poultry. A fully functioning forested ecosystem
that offers food for humans and animals, medicinal provisions, as well as an area of forest that has
been deliberately left alone to act as a wildlife haven.
This garden - known as El Campanario - is part of a localized circular economy with local people at
its core. They have listened to and incorporated knowledge from local Maya regarding the various
uses and healing properties of each plant; many of which would have been weeded out or stifled in
a “traditional” intensive tree-planting campaign. What’s more, the space is also used as an
educational venue, where people of all ages can engage with their local environment through
immersive and informative experiences.
It’s a perspective that is ripe for adoption in other contexts and at larger scales; it offers a sharp
contrast to the sterile, evenly spaced monoculture plantations that are proliferating across large
swathes of Africa and South America in particular, in order to fulfill carbon credit quotas and meet
the ever-growing demand for timber.
1
40
