Indigenous-led ecological and cultural regeneration
Munekan Masha is a Kogi created and Kogi led regeneration project. It focuses on degraded land within the sacred Linea Negra, a line around the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The project envisions a mosaic of regeneration hubs or land laboratories, located on sacred sites, where Kogi ecospiritual knowledge meets modern science in respectful dialogue.
C Level is collaborating with the Tairona Heritage Trust, including Munekan Masha within our Wild Aligned programme, focussed on developing the Biocultural Regeneration Hubs.
RESTORING BALANCE IN SACRED MOUNTAIN ANCESTRAL LANDS
Munekan Masha – a Kogi phrase meaning ‘bringing the world back into balance’ – supports the regeneration of an ancestral territory, water systems and forest ecosystems through innovative partnership. Kogi governance of the land integrates ecological care with spiritual responsibility and techniques.
At a moment when many conventional approaches are failing, this project on the Sierra Nevada, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, offers a unique approach to regeneration, grounded in long standing Indigenous stewardship brought into dialogue with contemporary science on equal terms.
The Kogi people, Indigenous guardians of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, understand their territory as the beating heart of the Earth. For generations they have warned that damage to this region would have global consequences. In response to the severity of the crisis, the Kogi have taken the unprecedented step of offering to actively teach and document their knowledge, to a small, handpicked team, both to safeguard younger generations who are increasingly disconnected from tradition and to share guidance with the wider world to support healing and regeneration.
Founding Partner
Organización Gonawindúa Tairona
Project Status
Vision
Participants
Kogi communities
Project Type
Indigenous ecological regeneration & watershed restoration
Landscape
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Guiding Authoritiy
Kogi Mamos (spiritual elders)
Collaborating Organisations
Organización Gonawindúa Tairona, Tairona Heritage Trust, UNESCO Bridges Programme
Key Focus Areas
Biocultural regenerative approach, forest recovery, water source protection, sacred site restoration, cultural continuity
How it works
The Kogi are actively working to reclaim ancestral lands, particularly those that contain sacred sites that help restore the ecospiritual integrity of the land. For the first time they are looking to to share their traditional ecological knowledge with scientists and educators, promoting a model of conservation rooted in Indigenous wisdom and spiritual stewardship.
The project will begin with spiritual diagnosis. Kogi Mamos, the spiritual leaders of the Kogi communities, identify imbalance in the landscape through consultation with sacred sites and ancestral knowledge. Restoration actions are then defined, after which ecological research and monitoring can support implementation.
Work includes:
- Creation of Land Laboratories or Regen Hubs for shared learning
Rather than merging knowledge systems, science operates in parallel – supporting decisions defined within Kogi spiritual view.
What Makes This Project Special
Munekan Masha has started but the vision is getting bigger. It is a unique ecocultural regeneration project grounded in a unprecedented collaboration.
On the degraded site of La Bendición De Dios, located within the sacred Linea Negra, scientific teams from a Swiss University will conduct soil analysis, biodiversity surveys, and satellite monitoring. Meanwhile Kogi spiritual authorities, Mamos and Sagas, will diagnose the land through cosmology, ritual practice, animal behaviour, and careful attention to how elements of the territory work together as a living system.
A hand-built structure based on vernacular architecture, known by the Kogi as a Land Laboratory, will serve as the space for shared learning. Here, ceremonies, workshops, reflection and immersive dialogue will prepare participants, Kogi and non-Kogi alike, to come together in co-creative processes.
All stages of the project are being guided by Kogi spiritual protocols, ensuring intellectual sovereignty, cultural integrity, and non-extractive collaboration.
Spiritual Governance First
Restoration priorities are determined by Kogi spiritual authorities before technical planning begins.
Parallel Ways of Knowing
Academic ecology and Indigenous cosmology operate side-by-side, each maintaining its integrity.
Protection of Sacred Geography
Regeneration focuses on culturally and ecologically significant sites across the mountain system.
Learning Flows Outward
The project is designed to help the modern world understand living relationships with nature, not to change Kogi knowledge systems.
Return of ancestral Kogi land
Munekan Masha is an ancient spritually important site on one of the key rivers flowing from the snow to the Caribbean. Degraded ranch land which the Kogi wish to turn into and ecological and cultural regeneration hub.
Responding to Challenge
- Funding the purchase of ancestral land that has been degraded for centuries
- Restoring a damaged watershed in a changing climate
- Aligning western science and traditional Kogi regenerative thinking
Project Documentation
The project partners are currently preparing an initial visit to the project site after which project design documents will be revised and made available.