#2 Utne Reader "THE GAVIOTAS EXPERIMENT" IN THE EARLY 1970'S A GROUP OF ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS, FREE-SPIRITED INVENTORS, LOCAL RANCHERS, GUAHIBO INDIANS AND FORMER STREET KIDS BEGAN AN EXPERIMENTAL VILLAGE IN COLUMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA. IN THIS VILLAGE THEY DEVELOPED DOZENS OF ECOLOGICALLY SOUND IDEAS RANGING FROM SOLAR CLOTHESUDRYERS TO AMAZON REFORESTATION STRATEGIES. ONE OF THE LEADERS, PAULO LOGARI WANTED TO FIND A DIFFICULT PLACE FOR HIS EXPERIMENTS. THE LLANOS OF EASTERN COLUMBIA WAS A STARK SAVANNA WHOSE SOIL WAS BARREN. THIS SITE FIT LUGARI'S DEFINITION OF DIFFICULT. THEY DEVELOPED SOLAR WATER HEATERS, STOVES, PANELS AND WINDMILLS. THE MEMBERS SHARED THESE INVENTIONS WITH POOR COMMUNITES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO HELP IMPROVE THEIR ECEONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND HEALTH PROSPECTS. THEY ALSO DEVELOPED A TROPICAL PINE THAT SURVIVED HERE VERY WELL. BY PLANTING THESE TREES, THEY DISCOVERED THAT THEIR PINE FORESTS WERE SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE RETURN OF THE RAIN FOREST. THIS WILL SURELY HELP OUR DEPLETING RAIN FORSTS.

-- Anonymous, January 18, 1999