We are deep in the process of designing clear and holistic reciprocity agreements for bringing land into the commons here in Barichara, Colombia. Yesterday we met to explore how to do this for land stewards living in the local community.
The non-profit organization we are creating is called Tierra Sagrada Barichara and its mission is to bring private land into the commons in service to the regeneration of our territory. This is foundational work for creating a design pathway away from extractive economic models and into regenerative livelihoods. Earlier in the process, we observed that there are three different groups of people who need clear reciprocity agreements in order for this work to truly be transformative for all involved -- those who donate or invest in these efforts; those who steward the land projects in our community; and those who participate in the non-profit organization to serve the local community.
This article explores the agreements with local land owners. We already mapped out the primary ways that donors receive benefits from participation in a previous article. Now we are ready to share how we see land owners participating in the transformation of local land management practices.
Who Will Steward the Land?
One of the key insights for this work is that private land boundaries often have very little in common with ecological or social patterns of connectivity. Thus it is important to identify the larger web of relationships for each piece of land and bring it into healthy relationship with the larger patterns of the territory around it.
For example, if the land is in a watershed there are important relationships between those who live upstream and those who live downstream. Or if the land is part of a network of learning exchanges about native ecology, opportunities for collaboration exist at a larger scale where potential interactions can be discovered or cultivated among educational initiatives in the community.
The land begins to express these relationships as a living commons only when there is someone who actively stewards the land in service to larger collective intentions -- whether it is restoring a watershed together, cultivating greater food security for the community, educating local people about regenerative practices, or any other shared purpose.
When Tierra Sagrada Barichara enters into a process with any specific piece of land, the first question that must be answered is if the land already has an active steward working toward a larger goal. Is there already a land steward? The answer to this question creates clarity about what might happen next.
If the land has someone (or a group of people) who wants to carry the responsibility for active stewardship, it may be preferable that the legal ownership remains with this steward. Focus is given to creating the conditions for social agreements to emerge about how the land will participate in larger regenerative efforts.
Distributing Rights and Agreements
This makes more sense when we consider an example like the restoration of a watershed -- where multiple land owners need to work together across different private land boundaries. One way to create the container for stewardship might be to form a community council for the watershed and ask each land owner to join it. Note how the land owners do not need to sell their land or donate it into the commons for this to work.
At this point, it is helpful to take a step back and observe that each piece of land has a "bundle of rights" associated with it. The right to sell the land. The right to access the land. The right to manage the land. The right to divide the land. And so forth.
There are also rights associated with personal freedoms to partner with others. Each land owner has the right to enter into an agreement not to use toxic chemicals on their land or that they will only plant native trees. This ability to creatively explore rights associated with land and rights associated with social interactions is where Tierra Sagrada does its work.
When the land does not have an active steward, it may be preferable for the current owner to sell or donate the land to Tierra Sagrada. They may want to see a regenerative process unfold but lack the capacity to do the work themselves. In situations like this, it is possible to explore reciprocity relationships where some rights to the land remain with the previous owner in exchange for a discounted price or full donation of the land.
An example of this would be if there is a local family that cannot afford to regenerate the land. They might request a smaller price in exchange for social benefits or ecological returns. I know of a specific family that continually struggles financially and feels the need to sell their land in order to pay their bills. If this continues until all of their land is sold, the children and grandchildren will be displaced and need to move away. Instead it might be possible to seek an agreement where specific rights to build a house and live on part of the land can be retained for these family members in exchange for a reduced price to purchase the land and bring it into the commons.
Here you can see that the "bundle of rights" are held by the community and some are given back to the original owners as part of a community agreement. In this way, customized reciprocity agreements can be created that address the purpose and needs of all who gather to do regenerative work in the territory.
How Can You Get Involved?
As someone who probably does not live in Barichara, it is possible for you to get involved by learning about the four kinds of reciprocity that we offer to donors and investors. You can bring energy and resources into our territory in a manner that dignifies and honors the local people who want to restore rivers and forests in Barichara.
Also check out how we are funding an entire education ecosystem that supports all of this regenerative work. Perhaps you feel called to help make that happen? Reach out to us or simply reply to this article with comments and questions. We would love to hear from you!
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