The Heart of the World: Bioregional Mapping of a Sacred Mountain for Indigenous-Led Regeneration

Organization: Sun Nation, in collaboration with members of the International Regenerative Alliance (AIR)

Location: Gunkeruwan Geken, Bisikungwy Mountain, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia

Categories: Community · Restoration · Education

Project Story

The mountain and its waters:

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is one of the most biodiverse and hydrologically critical mountain systems in South America. Rising from the Caribbean coast to over 5,700 meters, it is the source of rivers and freshwater systems that serve millions of people across the region. The Arhuaco people, who have stewarded this territory for millennia, describe it as The Heart of the World, a living system whose ecological and spiritual health are inseparable.

At the center of this proposal is Bisikungwy Mountain, a sacred mountain and key ecological node within the Sierra Nevada. The Arhuaco describe Bisikungwy as the origin of the territory's food and water systems. The mountain is said to contain approximately 1,500 springs, fed by high-altitude cloud forests and páramo ecosystems, along with interconnected streams and water basins that sustain both community life and downstream watershed health.

These water systems are under serious and accelerating pressure. Deforestation for cattle grazing and conventional coffee production, the expansion of monocrop agriculture, and agrochemical use across the mountain are degrading soils, silting waterways, and reducing the capacity of the land to hold and release water. Sacred water sites are being lost. Streams that have sustained Arhuaco communities for generations are diminishing.

What restoration planning currently lacks, and what this initiative will produce, is a systematic, ground-truth hydrological map of Bisikungwy: where the springs are, how the water networks connect, which sites are most at risk, and how Arhuaco territorial knowledge describes the relationships between water, land, and community.

Our relationship with the community:

Sun Nation has been building relationships with Pueblo Arhuaco since 2018. Since 2022, that work has deepened specifically with the Gunkeruwan Geken community, an Arhuaco Peace Village located directly beside Bisikungwy Mountain. This community was founded with the sole purpose of protecting and stewarding Bisikungwy Mountain. In the first half of 2026, Sun Nation team members completed a bioregional immersion, working alongside community members and Mamos, Arhuaco spiritual authorities, to develop a shared vision for Bisikungwy Mountain’s regeneration.

This proposal is a direct result of those conversations. The hydrological mapping initiative is community-invited, Arhuaco-guided, and designed from the outset so that the data, the maps, and the restoration strategy produced belong to and serve the Gunkeruwan Geken community and Pueblo Arhuaco's broader territorial governance.

What this initiative will do:

Over 6 months, a team of 4–6 bioregional organizers will work directly alongside Arhuaco leadership and Gunkeruwan Geken community members to systematically document the hydrological sites of Bisikungwy Mountain. Field teams will walk the mountain with Arhuaco knowledge holders, locate and GPS-map springs, streams, and water basins, and record qualitative community knowledge about water relationships and sacred sites where the community chooses to share it.

All field data will be digitized and uploaded to a shared mapping platform owned by the Arhuaco governing body, Ni’Kuma, producing a structured hydrological dataset that is usable for restoration planning, government territorial processes, ecological research, and future funding applications. The final output will be the first systematically documented, community-validated hydrological map of Bisikungwy Mountain.

What this makes possible:

A hydrological map of Bisikungwy is the evidence base that all future restoration work requires. Without it, watershed protection proposals lack specificity, territorial claims lack documentation, and restoration funding applications cannot identify priority intervention zones. With it, the Arhuaco community and their partners have a credible, grounded foundation from which to plan, fund, and implement restoration at scale.

The data this initiative produces will directly support restoration planning, government negotiations through Colombia's ANT (National Land Agency) and Mesa Tecnica Regional processes, and future funding applications for watershed protection, re-wilding, and regenerative land use across the Bisikungwy territory.

How this catalyses the next phase of the process:

In parallel with this mapping initiative, members of the wider alliance are exploring the acquisition of Finca Duna, an 80-hectare coffee farm adjacent to Gunkeruwan Geken. The farm contains approximately 60,000 coffee trees, two water streams, coffee processing infrastructure, and accommodation for around 20 people. When secured, Finca Duna will become an active Bioregional Hub and permanent base for ongoing hydrological monitoring, watershed restoration, regenerative agroforestry, and food sovereignty programming, extending the work that begins with this mapping initiative into a long-term, place-based regeneration program.

The mapping initiative proceeds with or without Finca Duna. However, the relationships, learning, and knowledge this pilot produces directly informs that acquisition and any future restoration or regenerative agriculture work in the territory.

Objectives and Expected Outcomes:

To document and create maps of the springs, streams, and water basins of Bisikungwy Mountain in direct partnership with Arhuaco knowledge holders, thus producing the first community-validated hydrological map of Bisikungwy Mountain.
To record Arhuaco territorial knowledge about water relationships and sacred sites, where the community chooses to share it.
To digitize and upload all field data to a shared mapping platform, producing a structured hydrological dataset accessible for restoration planning.
To support education and training of bioregional organizers through a 6-month field immersion, alongside a team of dedicated Arhuaco community members, thus facilitating intercultural learning and regenerative capacity-building.
To strengthen relationships and trust with the Arhuaco community and authorities, by responding to their invitation for support in the Bisikungwy recuperation process.
Produce a practical roadmap for ecological restoration and regenerative territorial transition, using the participatory mapping process and collected data as foundations.
Documenting the process through stories, photos, and media pieces, as well as a final project report with lessons learned and next steps.

Tentative Timeline:

Phase 1 | Alignment and Protocol Design

Confirm team roles, community protocols, and data consent processes with Arhuaco partners. Procure and test mapping equipment. Design field documentation workflow with community input.

Phase 2 | Field Mapping and Community Documentation

Begin systematic hydrological field surveys walking the mountain with Arhuaco community members. Document spring locations, stream networks, and water basins using GPS and satellite map overlays. Record community knowledge where invited.

Phase 3 | Data Upload, Digitization, and Community Verification

Upload and digitize all field data. Host community review sessions to verify mapping accuracy and integrate Arhuaco territorial knowledge into the dataset.

Phase 4 | Map Production and Restoration Strategy

Complete the first version of the Bisikungwy hydrological map. Draft the watershed restoration roadmap identifying priority intervention zones. Produce photo and video documentation.

Phase 5 | Integration and Planning the Next Phase

Finalize hydrological map, regeneration roadmap, and project report. Share with the Arhuaco community, partner organizations, supporters, and relevant government bodies. Identify next funding and implementation steps.

Budget Estimate:

This initiative produces a scientifically credible and locally grounded knowledge base in direct partnership with the Arhuaco community, with their territorial knowledge as the primary guide. A foundational $15,000 investment funds the mapping equipment, field trips, mapping workshops, food and gifts for the Arhuaco communities upon visits, logistics and coordination, documentation and storytelling, and the data infrastructure needed to generate a resource that will serve the subsequent phases of Bisikungwy's restoration. The process will also serve as a prototype and precedent for similar territorial mapping and restoration processes in the larger bioregion. It is the foundational dataset and knowledge base on which the larger restoration program for the mountain and watershed can be developed and implemented.