The balance of life on our planet depends on our willingness to remember who we truly are: caretakers, not owners. For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have understood that every action we take — every tree we plant or cut, every river we honor or pollute — shapes the world for generations to come. Today, humanity stands at a turning point. The soils are thinning, forests disappearing, and climate patterns breaking apart. We are here in service to each other: to protect, restore, and nourish the web of life. It is an act of service, humility, and courage — a return to living in reciprocity rather than extraction.

On behalf of the Cuenca Barú Restoration Team, and along side other Earth Guardians, we are launching a regenerative initiative to restore, reforest, and protect the watershed systems that sustain all communities, human and non-human in the Barú region. This is more than conservation — it is a return to origin. A return to responsibility. A return to life.

Our "Cuenca" Barú

Nestled in the mountains of Costa Rica’s South Pacific lies the Barú River watershed, a vibrant lowland tropical rainforest fed by cloudforest headwaters, waterfalls, and lush valleys flowing to the ocean at Dominical. After centuries of Indigenous displacement, deforestation, and ecological harm, a new era began about 30 years ago when people arrived with a different vision—one of reciprocity, regeneration, and living in harmony with nature.

These pioneers listened deeply to the land, the waters, the animals, and the ancestral wisdom of the Indigenous communities who once thrived here. Together with the local Tico community, they began replanting forests, restoring soils, protecting river corridors, and rebuilding a culture rooted in respect for nature and spirit.

Today, the Barú watershed is rebounding with life—cleaner rivers, returning wildlife, flourishing food forests, sacred gatherings, and a multicultural community united in reverence for the land. The region has become a sanctuary of regeneration, a living example of what is possible when humans remember their relationship with nature and take action to heal it. But the work is far from finished.

We invite you to join us in protecting and expanding this regeneration, ensuring that the streams, rivers, forests, and communities of Barú continue to thrive for generations to come.

This movement, celebrated through the Expo, honors all beings—from microbes to mountains—and invites each of us to continue weaving this story, committed to harmony with the rivers and rainforests that sustain us.

For this initial funding of $1,000 we will be able to:

Thank you for your contributions.

Support the regeneration. Protect the waters.

Together, we can keep Barú alive and flourishing—

a sanctuary where all beings can breathe, belong, and thrive.