From April 22nd to 25th, 2023, EcoAtivo held its first Agroforestry WorkCamp, facilitated by our team members. In this immersive experience in syntropic agriculture, we came together to build a new agroforestry area at the Ananda Valley site.
In the syntropic agriculture model, plants are distributed across the land in a way that promotes greater local biodiversity, supporting the system’s own regeneration and reducing the need for resources brought in “from outside.” The new system that was implemented was designed in an island format rather than in rows, as is more commonly done, featuring a diversity of fruit trees, forest trees, shrubs, and vegetable plants. Over this 4-day immersion, we built the system from the ground up, going through every stage preparing all the necessary resources and materials, such as chipping pruned branches, cutting logs for the system’s design, preparing the land, and laying out the compost, as well as selecting the species to be planted.
During the WorkCamp, we also held theoretical classes that helped build a foundation for the practical activities. Across 4 theoretical sessions, we covered the different methods of regenerative agriculture, what syntropic agriculture is and its benefits, stratification, ecological succession, ecosystem resilience, system maintenance, soil biology, geology and chemistry, and, finally, the importance of ground cover.
Below, you’ll find the link to the video documenting the implementation of the Bosque das Pequenas Ilhas Verdes (Little Green Islands Forest):