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AgriCulTourismo |
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After reading US Vice President Al Gore's book Earth in Balance - Ecology and Human Spirit (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992, ISBN 3-10-027200-5) in the autumn of 1992 in a Bombay hotel room while under curfew, it took another four years (!) to protect the name, getting it recognized by Spanish authorities, and obtaining a licence for the convention site plus a cantina for our non-profit association. But the time we've invested is not time wasted; it echoes the very message of the book: act now before it will be too late to prevent this planet from be destructed by its inhabitants. AgriCulTourismo is composed of agriculture, respect for local culture, and tourism. We're working on realizing ACT by creating the AgriCulTourismo Center Sant Joan. The center is composed of two parts:
AgriCulTourismo came from the experiences of ECO's founder, Daniel Spiegel. Since 1985 he's been working in the town of Sant Joan de Labritja on a variety of agricultural, cultural, and tourist projects and events. After the fact he became aware of two promotions of the Conseill de Tourismo in Palma/Mallorca: Tourismo Rural and Agrotourismo. These are both 15 years old and haven't had any impact on Eivissa because they lack an integral component: culture. (We believe that history teaches us that culture (or spirit) has brought about the rise and fall of nation-states. We observe the many ways that a lack or a perveted culture/spirit is creating wars, hunger, and eventually the destruction of our planet.) Taking a local view, about ninety per cent of Eivissan income is derived from tourism. Clearly, this from of tourism - in the long run - brings more harm than good because the local culture isn't being respected nor cherished. That the origins of mass-tourism can be found in multinational companies and organizations dedicated to the total consumation of our recources at any profit makes us more determined to bring to flower a viable alternative. Year after year about five hundred times the local population flock to Eivissa; our time to come up with a workable alternative is short.
We have an eye out to expanding AgriCulTourismo in places with characterics similar to Eivissa, namely
In our town we've identified 280.000 square meters of the most valuable type of southern-oriented land (with excellent protection against northern winds) complete with two fincas (old-style farmhouses) in excellent condition. One third of this land is terraced orchards of fruit trees bounded by ancient stone walls. The remaining two-thirds is smooth hillside with pine trees. The owners of this property are interested in developing their land in an ACT style. We're working on a business proposal (which will contain the items enumerated in phase III).
Phase one of our local implementation of AgriCulTourismo is taking place at the ECO offices at the Placa d'Espanya in the center of Sant Joan de Labritja. In the middle of our offices, exclusively for the members of the AgriCulTourismo association, is office space, and a vegetarian cantina with a non-alcoholic bar. Members may bring their home-grown or locally-processed regional produce to be sold in the New Age Bazar, use an environmentally-friendly laundry facility which operates with solar-heated water and phosphorus-free detergents, enjoying our Balinese-style garden complete with goldfish and giant bamboo, the adjacent massage pavillion, or the covered meeting center. Soon to be added: a working compost.
Phase two consists of 50.000 square meters of agricultural land we've leased for creating a proof-of-concept of local alternative farming methods, including:
Phase three will be built on an additional 230.000 square meters of land and buildings are leased by us. It'll include the following areas:
If you want to become an AgriCulTourism member please let us know. |
