A peek on the history of the land

Let’s trace a line from the discovery of the Americas… Spanish conquistadores used much of the original oak and beech forests to obtain wood to build ships. They cut down huge areas of it, leaving behind a semi-deserted land that later was further deforested for the building of the railways. It is well known by every spanish citizen that 200 years ago, a squirrel starting its journey in the very south of Spain could still travel all the way to the very north through the forest canopies, without touching the ground once. But this today is just impossible.

Fortunately some areas have been reforested, only recently, with pine trees. The unfortunate side of it is that this kind of forest has a high risk of fire. Still, we do still have some of the original holm oak forest on our land, which is recognised as a special habitat.

In the 50s, after the 2nd World War, a Dutchman escaped to Spain and built the main house that we live in now, in the Prades Mountains. Shortly after this he imported the first golden apples that Spain ever knew and then spread this variety to the rest of the country. We still have the terraces that were used for apple orchards, and some still have apple trees.

Part of the use of this place, after the apple orchards were begun, was as a self-sufficient group of families and also as a headquarters for nearby quarry workers to rest and collect their wages. We still have the electric generator that was powered by water, though it’s no longer functional.

There was a time after that when the land was abandoned, but was then taken up by another family that bought the land and the house.  They owned the place but lived in a city and rented the place to other people. At one point this was even a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts and the land the wasn’t cultivated as before, but was a place for retreat and recovery through being with nature. During this time the land went quite wild, with brambles and bushes growing in most places, making it almost impossible to visit some of the terraces.

Just over ten years ago, Shakti Genaine decided to buy the place to base her project with the support of friends and colleagues. That was when her vision of the Earth Sanctuary was made concrete and it was only then that the land became worked with again, clearing away and establishing cultivated areas. Maybe for the first time in a while humans are active on the land itself working in balance with and enhancing its ecosystem.