Ekobius Ecovillage (Ecology Crossroads)

Mission: Through cooperation, peace and the natural world we can realize our genuine purpose as the caretakers of the planet. Our community is dedicated to the using appropriate ecological technology, natural materials, harnessing the energy of nature, and benefiting from its gifts. Our focus as a group is on ecosystem services, their protection, development and sharing for ourselves and future generations to come.

From www.ic.org/directory/ekobius-ecology-crossroads/:

Come live in the Upper Amazon and Orinoco Mountains, on the Guiana Shield where it all began!

It took us several years to find the right property and have overcome the invisible socio political factions that mysteriously exist trying to prevent our Indie-pendent Ideals. "Now our property is finally paid off and we can begin moving in" David Wright, Project Coordinator.

In May 2013 we entered into a contract to purchase property at the frontier edge where the Amazon Rainforest meets the Guiana Highlands, locally they call it Guayana, we call it the Amazon Highlands. We started using Ekobius (Ecology-By-Us) to describe the special niche ecosystem and area where we live and are building a prototype model ecological village based on open-source ideals. This is deep ecology and nature at its best!

As of October 2018 we are beginning a reformation ecovillage, installing our own idealist eco-permaculture and sustainable intentional community! For the first time since we began planning and purchase in 2013, the property can now be occupied and has finally been prepared well-enough to accommodate visitors and begin the development of our modern example eco-community.

Located in Venezuela's Northern Amazon; literally, at the 'End of the Road.' our property is the absolute last property that can be inhabited permanently by other than traditional indigenous peoples before entering a protected land area of 650,000 square kilometers full of indigenous reservations, natural monuments, national parks and biosphere reserves. Cross the river behind our property and the next contact with civilization you will find is a 100 day hike due south to the Amazon River or due east to Mt. Roraima and the Guyana, Venezuela, Brazil border.

We are 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the capital of the state of Amazonas, Puerto Ayacucho, which is in the Atures municipal district. Our ecovillage is located on an asphalt connector road with the capital, we are located between the local community of La Culebra and the indigenous community called Gavilan at Kilometer 24 on Via Gavilan. Public bus transit is available within 10 kilometers of our property. The front of our property has 800 m of road frontage and nearly 2 km of frontage on the Catañiapo River.

Our project is owned and operated by the Ekobius International (an International Cooperative) who are the member residents of our eco-village (ecovillage) development. The property, its infrastructure, and its buildings are wholly owned and controlled by the cooperative under express indefinite permission with the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

Anyone can become a member of Ekobius by investing in the socio-productive cooperative, anyone can further become a resident of our intentional community (ecovillage) and work in the cooperative by joining the cooperative and visiting us with a backpack or a suitcase.

We are seeking open minded people that consider themselves free and liberated of capitalism and the mainstream society. We are unifying ourselves differently than most communities because our common bond is not religious or political, spiritualist or governmental; our ideals are based on indigenous knowledge, enhancing nature and fostering the earth's ecology, instead of exploiting it. We are developing as a small ecological community dedicated to sustainable development and the enhancement of our natural environments. Taking care of the planet that takes care of us.

Resident members can work in agroforestry, permaculture, teaching ecology, growing medicinal plants, making artisan products, developing handicrafts and through the social production of ecosystem services and non-wood forest resources through specialized educational development projects sponsored by international patrons in the Guiana Highlands and Northern Amazon regions.

We embrace barter and the Pachamama (Mother Earth or Gaia) if that is considered a religious faith.

Resident cooperators are paid for their individual work production and cooperatively through the net production of the coop as well. The cooperative ownership assures fair trade practices.

Our project is beginning with a property that has a common kitchen building, a four room lodge, a 5 stall bath house, several concrete foundations and 2 chicken coups.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.