We Did It Again — And We Didn't Do It Alone

When we completed the first land purchase — four hectares of Colombian Amazon, protected — I exhaled for what felt like the first time in months. We had done something real. Something that would last. And honestly, I thought we were done for a while.

Then the landowner called.

He had eight more hectares. Untouched jungle, right next to our original plot. And he was offering it to us at a discounted price — because he had seen what we were trying to do and he believed in it.

I remember feeling everything at once. Excited. Overwhelmed. Grateful. A little terrified. We had just crossed a finish line, and suddenly there was another one ahead of us — bigger, more significant, and with a limited window to make it happen.

But we also knew immediately: this opportunity was too important to let pass. Contiguous land matters in conservation. A larger, unbroken ecosystem is more resilient, more biodiverse, and more meaningful than fragmented parcels. This wasn't just more land — it was the chance to deepen everything we had already built.

So we went back to work.

We continued our grassroots fundraising, leaning on the community that had shown up for us from the very beginning. And this time, something new happened — we began exploring larger funding sources. That's when The Core Collective entered the picture. They saw something in this project worth believing in, and they stepped in with a grant that made all the difference.

It was the combination of their support and yours — every donor, every share, every word of encouragement — that made the second purchase possible.

In December 2024 and January 2025, we secured the funding and purchased the additional eight hectares.

Proyecto Chigayaco now protects twelve hectares — nearly thirty acres — of Colombian Amazon rainforest. The land is already regenerating. Life is returning. And what started as a scrappy, hopeful idea has grown into something recognized, supported, and very, very real.

To The Core Collective: thank you for believing in a grassroots project still finding its footing. Your trust means everything.

To our community: you are the foundation of all of this. None of it happens without you.

This feels like the end of one chapter and the beginning of another — one focused on stewardship, on watching this land heal, and on continuing to tell its story to anyone who will listen.

Thank you for being part of it. 🌿