The “Mountain of Light”, a “living laboratory” of some 30,000 plants in Ecuador

What one day was wild mountainfull of undergrowth and bushes, has been transformed into a “living laboratory” with about 30,000 floors planted with different species and varieties on about 40 hectares in the Pablo Arenas parish, in the Ecuadorian province of Imbabura.

Known once as the hill of “San Juan”this elevation of 2,240 meters of altitude is now the “Mountain of Light”a space in which the bushes were replaced for 3,700 fruit trees of 50 varieties, 600 bamboos of 9 varieties and 900 palms of 27 varieties.

In addition, 600 conifers of 26 varieties, 300 arupos trees, 300 agave plants, succulents, aloe vera and cacti, around 1,000 orchids and a thousand bougainvilleas of 25 colors, among others.

And while it’s still under construction, the creators of the community “Mountain of Light” They want to turn it into one of the largest and most biodiverse botanical gardens in the Andean area and thus provide Ecuador with one of its largest living laboratories, where to deepen the importance of protecting and conserving nature.

Also converted into a center for education on the importance of plants and the proper management of natural resources, visitors can go through different thematic gardens within the “Mountain of Light”: the one of zen, the one of the orchidarium, the one of the desert, the one of silence and even the shamanic, in walks of up to 90 minutes, said Sara Hurtado, a member of the community.

Plant and genetic resources

With the intention of contributing to the preservation of plant genetic resources and supporting the sustained use of plant species, the creators of the community “Mountain of Light” It has taken them about six years to open roads, build reservoirs and reforest the hill.

“These are areas with great anthropic pressure, which have suffered strong deforestation processes, vegetation cutting through felling to make charcoal, for wood or to open spaces for cultivation, which also brings other processes, such as the loss of soil by erosion”, said Spanish geologist Germán Martín.

For this reason, he highlighted the reforestation process carried out, since “prevents erosion, traps nutrients in the soil, brings fauna and that helps maintain the entire trophic web.”

“This abundant amount of plant species has helped a large number of animals, which were already abandoning or declining their populations”find a “refuge where to proliferate”, surrounded by colorful vegetation and the singing of birds at the top of the mountain, where it is now common to see even wild rabbits.

high biodiversity

Carlos Merizalde, who was the director of International Cooperation of the UNESCO Imbabura Global Geopark, recalled that, until six years ago, the San Juan hill was “a bare mountain, practically deforested” until Marcelo Vinueza arrived, “with different ideas of conservation, community development, local development”of ecotourism, ecospirituality, healthy eating…

And “it began to repopulate with an interesting variety of plants, a wide variety, very pleasant, and little by little the hawks, eagles, quilics, rabbits have returned, and this is the product, precisely, of this growth, this outcropping of biodiversity in the territory”, he explained.

Merizalde estimates that the “Mountain of Light” may be at this time the botanical garden “what else biodiversity have in projects or initiatives of this type in the Andean world of Ecuador”.

Sustainability, Resilience and Identity

Besides, “People who come to enjoy this natural environment, find a space of peace, tranquility, fresh air”said when highlighting a development with criteria of sustainability, resilience, identity, “because here we talk about geology, biodiversity, culture”of spirituality, of healing.

“Fortunately, little by little, people and entities are understanding that this change in behavior does not depend on others, but rather on oneself”he commented.

You have to be “sometimes a little crazy, in the good sense of the word, to undertake these initiatives that do good for the community, for the territory”pointed out on the site where each action seeks to promote a environmental education that favors changes in the behavior of visitors for the benefit of nature.

Source: EFE