We are Forest

Prototyping as a window to the future in Palguín Alto, Chile

 

Becky Buell, Presencing Institute

 

How does inspiration and intention turn into action that has the potential for deep systems change? This article captures the story of how Coral Herencia and Felipe Navarrete, the founders of Fundación Cuidemos Paraisos and co-faculty in our Latin America Ecosystems Leadership Program, applied the practices of Presencing to conserve a sacred mountain and water source in southern Chile. Felipe recently shared the power and process of prototyping, not as a one-off exercise, but as an ongoing process of deepening and clarifying. Felipe and Coral’s experience remind us that transformation takes time, patience and continual iteration to discover that highest future that wants to emerge. 

The Palguín Alto Biocultural Reserve is located at the headwaters of the Palguín River basin in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile, a territory of high ecological and cultural importance. It is the home to several threatened species and contains some of the most important biodiversity of the continent. It is also the territory of the “Trxen-Trxen” mountain, considered sacred by the indigenous Mapuche communities.

In 2012, Felipe Navarrete and Coral Herencia moved to Palguín Alto to ”learn from the forest and live in its cycles,” as described by Felipe. As they deepened their understanding of the territory around them, they came to understand the immense threat facing this bioregion due to commercial pressures for the extraction of wood, water and fish. Their deep commitment to the forest led them to embark on an effort to protect this vital bioregion by creating a conservation area that would serve as a “buffer zone” between commercial encroachment and the vast forest reserves of Araucanía.

Guided by the wisdom of a council of indigenous elders, and drawing on their own deep connection to the land, Coral and Felipe began with small efforts to protect the forests through the creation of two areas: an eco-village with families with a joint intention of living in harmony with the forest; and a conservation area that would serve as a demonstration site for educational activities. Fundación Cuidemos Paraísos was born in 2021 to shepherd this work.

In 2022 the community was confronted with a challenge that threatened the species and delicate balance of this bioregion. The owners of the surrounding lands announced that they would sell their land. Fundación Cuidemos Paraísos would need to raise over $300,000 dollars to purchase and protect a critical area of 76 hectares of forest and the water rights embedded in the region (in Chile water rights are privatized and must be either used commercially or converted into a conservation area).

Coral and Felipe arrived at the first Presencing Institute Ecosystems Leadership Program in Latin America in 2023, invited as co-faculty for the event. Coral, a Peruvian archaeologist by training, researcher of ancestral Andean-Amazonian knowledge, and singer and composer of sacred Andean music, served as a guide in the design of the program, and a bridge to a group of indigenous elders who have become teachers, partners and guides to the program since its beginnings. 

Coral and Felipe arrived at the program in Uruguay in April 2023 ready to present their project, complete with maps, technical detail and an appeal for support.  It was here that they learned about prototyping as a method for moving from ideas to concrete actions that begin to shift a system, and that serve as a learning laboratory for refining strategies.

Felipe recounts the experience: “What emerged from that meeting was the discovery that we are part of a much broader social field. The greatest gift of that encounter was being able to listen to others, to see and sense the social fabric that sustains us, and  the importance of recognizing the social soil that helps us generate a broader perspective.”

Over the next two years, Coral and Felipe continued to connect and iterate their vision.  The connections they had made at the ELP served as a platform for testing their ideas and extending their networks. The Regeneration Ecosystem Group, a community of nearly 50 ecosystem leaders that was born out of ELP LATAM, was an important source of ongoing support and inspiration.  Several high impact moments shaped their thinking: a visit to fellow ELP participant Thais Corral at Sinal do Vale in Brazil; a gathering PI organized with ELP participants in the Maipo watershed in Chile; a sensing journey organized in partnership with Commonland to learn from the experiences of Sierra Gorda, Mexico.  And most recently Coral and Felipe hosted the ELP regeneration community, along with many local stakeholders, in a gathering to learn about and connect with their intention in the forests of Palguín.  

Through this period, the prototype evolved in its initial framing as a technical conservation project – help us conserve 76 hectares of forest and water – to something much broader and deeper. As described by Coral, “Through each experience we got closer to understanding the true nature and the source that guides our work.  We have always been rooted in a deep commitment to understanding and sharing the wisdom of the earth and the ancestors. It became clear we needed to make this much more visible and central to our purpose.’

Felipe describes this experience of prototyping: “We have used all the tools to do this work – 3D, 4D maps, dialogues, Presencing practices – and at each stage we have gone through a ‘mini-U’, listening deeply and connecting to source, taking the next action and adjusting. That's the prototyping experience – each time we reach a point with a clear idea, we discover that something is still missing. You're really under pressure in this world to move forward at a fast pace. But the important thing is how we find the pauses, to allow things to emerge in a more solid way.”

Cuidemos Paraisos is now embarking on a major outreach effort to secure funding for the creation of the buffer zone, with two key pillars: the Guardians of the Forest network – a global and regional network of support to safeguard this critical bioregion; and a research center to share learning on the scientific, ecological, and cultural innovations required for protecting fragile ecosystems.

“Throughout this entire process, the greatest lesson has been the importance of the social field – the shared heart that unites us. To care for forests, we have had to learn to be forests ourselves. Forests take care of each other. Human beings need to care for each other, they need to value each other, and that is what we have opened up—not only finding techniques, but also finding people who, with open hearts, want to support us in this work”, highlights Felipe. 

Coral and Felipe will bring this inspiration and intention to Europe in May-July 2026 to share their experience and widen the circle of support through a series of events and concerts. As Coral recently shared, ”in times of ecological and cultural transformation, change is not only technical, but deeply relational — rooted in how we listen, feel, and act together. Through music, ceremony and collective presence, we are creating a growing movement of regeneration, care, and reconnection with life.”

 

For further information, visit their website.To join activities during their tour in Europe, follow Coral on Instagram.

Learn more about the Ecosystem Leadership Program in Latin America.