Centro Las Gaviotas is an ecovillage in Colombia, South America, located in the Illanos of the Columbian department of Vichada. It was founded in 1971 by Paolo Lugari who assembled a group of engineers and scientists in an attempt to create a mode of sustainable living in one of the least hospitable political and geographical climates in South America. For four decades, Gaviotans have struggled to build an oasis of imagination and sustainability in the remote, barren savannas of eastern Colombia, an area ravaged by political instability.

Today it is home to 200 residents, they have planted millions of trees, thus regenerating an indigenous rainforest. Farming is  organically and wind and solar power are used to provide the necessary energy. Every family enjoys free housing, community meals, and schooling. There are no weapons, no police, no jail. There is no mayor. The United Nations named the village a model of sustainable development. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has called founder Paolo Lugari the “inventor of the world.”

Bogotá, Colombia  ·  Phone +57 312 4824803  ·  www.centrolasgaviotas.org