Restoring the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta: Reversing a Century of Colombian Tragedy
Can science and tradition finally help heal the region’s peoples and bring balance to its biodiversity-rich waters and mangrove forests? This article was originally published by The Revelator When I visited the floating palafito fishing village of Nueva...
The Kamëntšá Cosmovision: An Intricate Reciprocal Connection Between Mother Earth and Health
In Episode One of Cosmology & Pandemic, “Colombia: The Body as Territory”, the profound cosmovision of the Kamëntšá, and the interrelated health of their culture and ancestral lands, played a central role. Indigenous Peoples have a well-developed, centuries-long...
Páramos at Risk: The Interconnected Threats to a Biodiversity Hotspot
The pressures of climate change and human land use could lead to the disappearance of unique biodiversity and vital ecological services. DANIEL HENRYK RASOLT This article was originally published by The Revelator On a recent, pre-pandemic journey to the High Andes of...
Colombia’s Dynamic Rivers: Integrated Interpretations and the Rights of Nature
Integrated interpretations of rivers as vital and interconnected living and evolving entities have extensive practical application — from their revered preservation throughout Indigenous territories, to modern adaptations of holistic Indigenous worldviews, to advances...
The Powerful Alliance Between Integrated Science and Traditional Food Systems
By Daniel Henryk Rasolt This article was originally published as a CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystem (WLE) Thrive Blog The longest running successful experiments in sustainable human land use are found within the collectively held lands of...
“This Is An Opportunity to Reconnect with Our Origins”
By Daniel Henryk Rasolt Originally published by The Esperanza Project For generations, a variety of factors have weakened the traditional intergenerational socio-cultural structures of Indigenous people around the world. In our globalized, urbanized and...
The Koreguaje Tribe: Threatened Guardians of the Northwest Amazon
A vulnerable culture living in a severely degraded section of the Colombian Amazon is in desperate need of international respect and support. By Daniel Henryk Rasolt This story was originally published by The Revelator. Versión en español To visit South America’s...
From a Vibrant Past to a Desolate Future: La Guajira and the Wayuu Tribe of Colombia
La Guajira is a dry and windy peninsular desert region between Northeast Colombia and Northwest Venezuela. The striking landscape has been harsh and borderline uninhabitable for many thousands of years. The southernmost parts of the peninsula border the...
Community-based and pro-poor tourism. Great potential but, many buts…
“Do good while travelling!” You don’t just want to travel anymore. You want to see the real world! The time of relaxing on the beach and after a hot and sandy day returning to your hotel has long gone. Travellers want more today, judged by how tour operators market...
Lessons from My Lai
My time in central Vietnam, where many of the most horrific events of the Vietnam war took place, was fascinating and emotional, especially as a young American. I hired a motorbike to Son My, site of the famous My Lai (pronounced Mee Lai, not my lai, as I had been...