00:16I'm Lourdes Peñuel Arrecio, I'm zotecnista, I have a master's degree in sustainable development
00:22in agrarian systems and for 30 years I work with the Horizonte Verde Foundation.
00:27I came from campesine, my father was campesine, there was always a fence, there was always a
00:35rise to the earth, and when you have that child, you never forget it, and there is always a
00:41relationship with nature, with the earth, the love of the earth, with animals, that's why I studied zotecnica,
00:48and then it was always like an object of life, one has the privilege of living working,
00:57and not working to live, I say it's a privilege because one has life goals and can develop them,
01:04and it's not that I get a job because I have to pay a rent or something, no, we have
01:09life goals and
01:10we do it by conviction, because we believe, because we think that one has to go through this life
01:18leaving some way and work for something, for something for oneself and for others.
01:25So it has been a goal of life, I say that it was very arraigated in the principles and values
01:29of
01:29childhood. Well, I am Bayuna, and let's say that I am adopted by the Yano,
01:35hace 39 years ago we were here with my husband, we came to work in this region of La Brinoquia,
01:44to manage some farms and we love this Yano, this beautiful region where there is a lot to do,
01:50a lot to work, and we have been knowing a lot of the region, working through different projects,
01:58our goal of life and our work at the Horizonte Verde Foundation is conservation of biodiversity and
02:06generation of sustainable alternatives to sustainable production, there is always that
02:09focus of conservation and production, we cannot separate.
02:28We have worked in different processes and projects, we always do projects, but behind it is a whole process,
02:37let's say that, and it has been in different areas, but always in sustainable landscapes,
02:46right, always understand, for example, in this sector where we are, we have the
02:50ganadería W Propósito, so we work with the ganadería sector, but in the
02:54area of Elvichada, there is the forest sector, in the area of Sabana Inundable,
02:59in Casanare, there is also ganadería, so more than all we have worked in understanding that
03:05the productive sector that is in that landscape, how is the dynamics, how is it moving, how
03:10is it developed, so that we have, let's say, a systemic vision that finally is the family
03:18and that family economy that is going to develop there in that landscape.
03:40Ganadería is a productive sector and when we talk about sustainability, we understand more than that
03:48triangle of looking at the balance between the economic, the social and the biological
03:53or environmental, it is to understand the system, so if I talk about palm, how does that
04:02palm, in that landscape, what are the dynamics that are happening with the natural environment,
04:06with the water resources, with the social aspects, how is the economic issue.
04:11If I talk about the ganadería and sustainability, it is the same, so how is it going to be
04:17related to the whole system, that is, a system that has entrances and exits, so we have to
04:22have an integral vision, holistic vision, how are those relations, because everything that I
04:26do in the conservation process will impact in the productive processes and vice versa.
04:32Yes, this region was like a dream for one, in the Andina area or in the Valle del Caucus,
04:39one would not imagine a region of these, when we arrived, first it was that
04:44the horizon that was increased, that immense amount of terrain, because the Orinoquia has
04:50cordillera, pie de monte, but almost 70% are the savannah areas, so it is an immense territory,
04:56it was a very healthy territory, with poor population, very little economic development, and in the last 10 years
05:08it has completely transformed, we have had a big change, we have reached a lot of agroindustries,
05:15a lot of agroindustries, we have been working with the development of the region, so it is a region that
05:23has
05:23been walking faster than what the region has been able to support.
05:29Always in the foundation we have worked with the people and for the people, and for the people,
05:34let's say that one as a technician, I am quite critical in the issue of extension and transfer
05:41of technology, as some times has been done in the country, to do things in the library and take them
05:47out.
05:47For us, the approach has always been with the communities, with the producer, with the farmer,
05:54first to know, interact, understand the needs, because what we have also noticed is that if you
06:03are not working on the dynamics of the needs, the interests and the opportunities that are there,
06:11then things will not work.
06:22Well, there is a relationship that we always say is that one is part of the nature,
06:29or we cannot think that human beings are here and the nature is that I am going to preserve the
06:35nature,
06:36no, one is part of it, so the importance is that we have to be alive,
06:42that we have energy, that we consume energy, and that in that dynamic with the natural ecosystems and with the
06:51fauna and the flora,
06:52there is a permanent relationship.
06:54It has to do a lot with the health of an ecosystem with the health of humans.
06:58As long as the landscapes and ecosystems are well, one can also be well.
07:05And that is why we always decided to go to the field, because it is, in some way, what makes
07:14us feel good.
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