Tierra de los voladores: regenerating Chiapas

Tierra de los voladores, our story

"Tierra de los voladores" is a regenerative land project in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. It's centered around building systems of care: food, water, shelter, tech and education for the benefit of all beings, human and more-than-human, locally and globally. The money raised from this campaign will go towards building a water, food and education system we are building. The project is in collaboration with the local Tzotzil people.

Our mission:

We are building a regenerative water and food system that will serve both as communal sustanence as well as a case study and an education cultural center for regenerative practices locally and globally.

Why we do it:

We fell in love with Chiapas, its people, revolutionary history and culture at first sight but very quickly and directly learned about its social, economic and enviormental challanges as we became sick with Salomenella and Typhoid on our first visit in late 2021, due to its contaminated water. Through this direct experience, we found out just how dire the water situation is in San Cristobal de las Casas and how the ground water is infected to a point where fecal matter and salmonella are regularly found in tap water.

We realized early on how deeply and intimately all of these social, economic, agricultural and educational issues are connected through water, which is the source of all life. In 2024 this land, “Tierra de los voladores” (land of the flying ones) found us. As land stewards, we want to work towards a future where all people of the San Cristobal area have access to clean water and nutritious food grown regeneratively. This is where Tierra de los voladores comes alive.

(photo of Kristen, Maud, Yuval, and Tom working on the sacred fire 2024)

(photo - the earthen house with a green roof, may 2026)

This project of "Tierra de los voladores" is at the beginning stages as we, Yuval, Kristen, and Luna our furr friend, have spent the last 2 years gaining experience and knowledge while experimenting with natural building methods such as light-clay-slip, timber framing, adobe, lime plastering, green-live roofing, planting the beginning of a food forest (mulberry, blueberry, peaches, plum, mandarine, figs, pomegranate and more) as well as building sustainable infrastructure such as a 20,000 liter rain water catchment system, a tool shed and a house. Right now we are seeking funding for a project on a half-hectare inside "Tierra de los voladores" where we put in motion a collaborative intitative with the local, Tzotzil people of San Jose Buenavista, our local community and neighbors. 

(photo : Mario and Jose starting the cistern exca​​​​​​​vation)

(photo: a 20,000 liter cistern and water catchment system complete, 2026)

Current situation:

Right now, despite the abundance of water in Chiapas (2000 mm yearly percipitation on avarage) due to industrialization (such as coca cola, nestle and mining activities in the quaries) 1 out of 3 people (over 600,000 residents) lack piped water, with rural indigenous communities relying on contaminated rivers, shallow wells, or carrying water long distances daily. As an example, every day 1.14 million litres, from the nearby Huitepec volcano basin is extracted by coca cola femsa plant. (see sources below). 

As a result of the poisonings of the local rivers, bottled water is expensive and so local communities relay on cheaper sugary drinks sold in plastic bottles which are directly responsible for diabetes and other health issues rampent in the communitiues. For lack of sanitary services, plastic ends up back in the environment. Despite the mild subtropical weather and the regenerative possibilities the landscape offers and due to all of these enviornmental and ecomonic issues, local communities are forced to use harmul monocultural practices and pesticides that further degrade the soil, poisoning the waterways and the air.

How we do it:

Our biggest advantage is the fact that we just built such a system (a 20,000 liter water catchment cistern that attaches to the roof of the house) and we know how to do it, how much it costs here and exactly what needs to be done to achieve our goals. Now, with this experience and considering the enviormental challanges of the area, we want to build this project to be community-facing, in collaboration with local people and for the benefit of the region. The project will be implemented in 3 stages: 1. Water System, 2. Food System, 3. Education and Cultural Space. for this round we are looking for funding for the first stage of building the water system.

Timeline:

We will start work on the ground at the begining of next dry season, as early as December 2026 to January 2027.

Month 1-3: Excavation of agricultural pond and the cistern. The building of the pond and the cistern structure.

Month 3-6: Building of foundations, timber frame structure and roofing of the later education and culture space and completion of the rest of the water catchment system by connecting the roof to the cistern to start collecting water as soon as it rains in April/May.

After this first stage, we will continue with stage two of this project, applying for funding to start preparing and regenerating the soil as well as a purchase of seeds and trees to begin the planting of the food forest. 

By the third stage, we will finish the construction of the education center where we will document, archive and make available the processes and methods we use for the water and food systems and make them available in an IIAB (Internet In A Box, a server that can be accessed offline using hotspot) situated at the center. The work will be translated into Tzotzil and Spanish as well as shared more broadly online throughout the Emergent Wisdom collective. The center will also serve as a distribution spot for all future food produce and have a mini water testing lab so any community member can come and test their water.

Our Team: The core team consists of Yuval and Kristen and we are currently working regularly with two families of the San Jose Buenavista Community and plan to continue working with them for this project and beyond. Aside from providing work, all workers will become permenant recipients of produce from the project for as long as it is operational. 

In conclusion:

As you can see we are already hard at work involving local community and friends from all over the world to join in on this project that we call home. With the support of Ma Earth and our community at large, we would like to expand this project into a center of regenerative technologies that benefit all of the humans and more-than-humans co-living in the region. Like all life, it begins with water.

Sources:

Chiapas water paradox: https://www.wearewater.org/en/insights/chiapas-an-unsustainable-water-paradox/

Coca Cola & Water Shortage: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/1/8/forgotten-how-one-mexican-city-struggles-against-big-industry-for-water

Water contamination: https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/mexico/mexican-students-choose-sugary-drinks-contaminated-water/

Diabetes pandemic in chiapas: https://borgenproject.org/chronic-diseases-in-chiapas/