Regenerate the social & natural fabric in Oaxaca

With the warmth and rains of the summer comes a special period in the activities of our project; not only is the season for harvesting the milpa and other crops in the permaculture center, it is the time for enhancement of slow water techniques. The first way to stop water, of great importance, is revegetation, which is much more than simply planting trees. Reforestation is, in fact, a basic activity, but it is also necessary to take care of trees and other planted plants (preferably of different native species), enrich the soil, encourage growth of natural vegetation, avoid and control fires and pests, and promote appropriate productive activities. While avoiding the direct hit of the rain on the bare soils, with those same actions we are driving water and storing it in ways that are not so evident: part of the water infiltrates the soil and is stored in the water table and in the humidity from the soil itself. Another portion becomes an integral part of the plants and living beings of the place, including us. Water in soil and plants is called green water.

Driving surface water is another great chapter of good practices of slow water that we stress in this season. Of course water conduction is the core of human activities as basic as agricultural irrigation and energy production. With heavy rains, we need to drive water so it does not pass through places where it causes problems. We also conduct it to make it reach sites where it is good for us and other living beings.

At the end of the day, REGENERATION is the central idea of goodpractices of slow water  and in the photographs attached, you can check some examples of what weñve been doing, with the unvaluable support of many people. Like you. One of the photos shows our demonstration center as a green rounded area surrounded by deforested spaces. That is regeneration.

Links:

• Description of our work
• Visit us at Fb

This year´s rainy season in Oaxaca should have started by mid-May. Temperatures had been unusually hot so first rains were eagerly awaited. And rains came with Agatha´s hurricane. The coast was severely hit and some 10 people were killed. In fact, what we are experiencing is the straight outcome of global warming: higher temperatures mean more energy fueling the atmosphere´s climate machine, thus giving space for more extreme conditions, higher predictability and faster water, among other things.

This is why we have named our main project Slow Water: reweaving natural & social fabric. This is why wea are part of GG´s Climate Action Cohort, together with initiatives from Guatemala, Peru, Kenya and Malaisya. The whole issue, from the perspective of this select group, is local actions led by communities.

and local actions are what we have been involved with during these last four months: relaunching the activities in our demonstration centers, bird watching in different locations of the watershed, family workshops to start home orchards, preparing the reforestation of the wet season. We share some photos.

And of course, we thank you all for eing part of this thrilling effort.