We protect what we love.
Solution
All of us, no matter what our connection to the living world, must not turn our backs on the natural environment’s power to heal. Many of us are familiar with how plants and animals can heal us emotionally. We are less familiar with how natural processes utilized by what is coined as Lo-Tek — defined as a simple, unsophisticated, uncomplicated, and pre-dating the industrial revolution — can help stabilize the climate. These natural processes utilize more stable restoration techniques that are already around us that protect against biodiversity loss.
Ancient Wisdom —— Landrace species are at the heart of this.
We can all speak out for change—and for some of us, protecting animals is where we find our voice.
Restoring Balance
Indigenous and traditional communities, which adopted this thinking thousands of years ago, now hold a global bank of intelligence and indigenous innovation that is invaluable—but only if we invest in retaining it. In the foreseeable future, the extinction of these technologies and landraces will stand alongside the extinction of species as one of the great losses of the 21st century.
While there are promising avenues for improvement, changing the mindset around restoration may be more difficult than it seems. In past experience, people can be defensive and often get stuck using practices that worked well or that are popular today. However, as climate change continues to affect how we approach much of the natural world, agriculture, in turn, will be affected. We will need to constantly re-think our role in the preservation of the environment.
The time to be making those changes is imminent.
But thinking about how to combat climate change can be overwhelming. “How can I influence system-wide changes or influence big businesses?” you may ask yourself. One important industry where we can make an impact is agriculture. Using a landrace species, like the Churro sheep creates a symbiotic relationship with the local flora and fauna is how we can protect biodiversity.
Churro sheep can restore the balance.
Climate change and biodiversity loss are inseparable threats to humankind and must be addressed together. We are just starting to understand how the planetary environmental systems are already in place to help mitigate damage caused by our overuse of the system. The preservation of the Churro sheep and learning its role in climate change mitigation is one that we can use right now to make a positive difference.
Rio Milagro Foundation plans to find out how desert landraces like the churro benefit the landscape that is becoming hotter and drier.
Solutions
Helping humans to adapt to the reality of Climate change.
Our approach is to observe, learn from, and develop natural technologies from the adaptations of species that developed through millennium.
Rio Milagro Foundation plans to study and investigate the feasibility of a conservation strategy for the landrace churro based on the innovative use of its grazing habits and unique wool. This will create new value to the landrace sheep and allow further income to churro shepherds.
Through this, we exist to repair a broken system, heal a damaged planet, and empower people in New Mexico and surrounding areas to create a better future through regenerative systems using landrace species.
