Atinkana Agroforestry Reserve

Outline

The Atinkana Hydrological Agroforestry Reserve is dedicated to the protection of the flora, fauna, and human cultures of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains – a UNESCO World Heritage Region and biodiversity hotspot – located at the Northern tip of Colombia.

Together we pilot artisanal biochar production from farm residues, as well as pruning wood and broken tree parts and stems. The biochar will be applied within the farmers fields and further help forestation and conservation efforts. The 200 hectares operated by Atinkana serve as a pilot and training location for the expansion of the network into the remote areas of the ancestral territories of the Sierra Nevada, that are populated by the Kogi and indigenous groups.

Project Partner

Atinkana’s conservation mission is sustained by income generated from the sale of organic specialty coffee, which is produced under the shade of regenerative agroforestry plantations that Atinkana has established over the previous 4-years, with native tree species and tropical food forests -- including cocoa, avocado, citrus, mango, banana, soursop, cassava, papaya, and a myriad-more fruits and tubers. Atinkana’s agroforestry plantations reconnect the biological corridors of the Reserve with the corridors of the greater Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta bioregion – one of the biocultural jewels of Latin America, which contains one of the highest diversity levels of birds and reptiles on Earth; a multiplicity of keystone species such as big cats, primates, tapirs, anteaters, macaws, condors; the 9-bioclimatic zones found in the tropical hemisphere, from the Caribbean ocean to glacial-covered peaks of 17,000-feet above sea level – all of which is stewarded by a spiritual mandate from the four indigenous communities that have inhabited their ancestral territory for millennia (the Kogi, Arhuaco, Wiwa, and Kankuamo).

Project Details

The farm is organised like a small village. For the biochar production, the residues of the farming practices, plus woody residues after forest sweeps will be used to produce in decentralized soil pits or small Kon-Tiki kilns. The output will mainly be used for the reforestation efforts, as a good biochar-compost mix is a solid supplement for freshly planted trees. The location serves as a pilot to expand the concept into the region, allowing neighbouring farms as well as indigenous tribes to effectively learn how to produce and apply biochar within their agroforestry practices, become part of the climate economy and improve their livelihoods.

Annual delivery of CO₂ tons:

1,000

Co-Benefits

  • support of further nature conservation efforts
  • biodiversity conservation in one of the most biodiverse regions on earth
  • strengthening of an environmental ecosystem that is subject to more and more heavy rainfalls
  • additional economic opportunity for farmers and indigenous who keep the ecosystem intact
  • support of preservation of ancestral wisdom

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