WHEN
February 22, 2023 – March 1, 2023
WHERE
Borikén, Puerto Rico
WHAT
For one week Michelle Lobo, Camila Marambio, and Bárbara Saavedra got to know Para La Naturaleza (PNL) by being led on an Ecodetour through some of the organization’s natural protected areas: kayaking through red dwarf mangroves at Medio Mundo y Daguao, listening to orchestra of coquís at Las Lunas, visiting the exhibition Flora Borinqueniana at MUSA in Mayagüez, being guided through the devastating colonial history of Hacienda La Esperanza, and learning about PNL’s visions of how to further ecological culture thanks to talks with Carlos Andrés Rodriguez, Elizabeth Padilla, Fernando Lloveras and a handful of talented environmental interpreters.
Pumped or pompea (in Boricua), Michelle, Camila and Bárbara digested the shared experiences as they planned for La Fiesta de Ensayos– to be celebrated in December 2023 during the last month of Camila Marambio’s residency at PNL. The fiesta will bring Ensayistas together to reflect on the past 12 years and workshop the future, during which we will map out the existing governance structure of Ensayos, using as a comparative case study PLN/ CTPR to fully understand Ensayos’s transdisciplinary/decolonized/ecofeminist practice and visions. With this in hand we will begin to draft a new governance document that builds on Ensayos’ existing web of inspiring local projects. And, finally la fiesta will share some of our findings to promote protocols of joy and biodiversity.
WHY
- Biodiversity is always systemic.
- Biodiversity cannot be separated from culture/ people. People rely on biodiversity and conservation decisions are made by people.
- Multi scale – life works this way. It is a set of structure and processes that are linked at different scales, produce outcomes/ products that are different at different scales–the scale of a body, an ecosystem, an archipelago, a continent, the biosphere. We need to understand what the links are at each level.
- Our perceptions are informing these processes and understanding.
- There is no healthy human community without healthy ecosystems.
- How do we define healthy ecosystems? We need to open spaces for communicating about that.
WHO
Michelle Lobo / Camila Marambio / Bárbara Saavedra
HOW
Thanks to the Para La Naturaleza; additional funding from Habitat.
–photos by Camila Marambio, Bárbara Saavedra, Carlos Andrés Rodríguez