Fire, Earth, Water and Air: Stories of participatory productive restoration in Solano, Colombia

The group, composed of a dozen young men and women, discussed the four elements — fire, earth, water and air — in workshops to tell the stories of their territories. With support from Tropenbos Colombia, the group formulated plans to produce the documentary series and learned how to use the audiovisual equipment.

Throughout the documentary production, the young group collected testimonies across their communities, capturing a richness of intergenerational perspectives on the importance of forests and the value of restoration.

The series provides a locally based narrative of restoration benefits in the Solano landscape. The youth who produced it have found empowerment in a region ravaged by the presence of agro-industrial interests and armed groups. It is a valuable record that preserves peasant and Indigenous environmental knowledge, and also represents resistance to external threats to their territories.

Producing the series strengthened the youths’ connections to their landscape, and they acquired technical communication skills that will be useful in future projects. The documentaries conveys the youths’ broadened and enriched perspectives of the value of restoration in their landscapes, and in forested landscapes beyond Caquetá. This can inspire and broaden further restoration initiatives led by local people and youth.

We inivite you to read more and watch the four documentaries: