Biocultural Diversity Working Group

About us

Nomads United is an organization that has crossed countries on horseback throughout the world since1998, forming Organic multi-ethnic mounted pro-earth peace legions .

Integrated by more than 300 people, from more than 30 nationalities, that collaborate, live and learn to create a wave of environmental conscience, a social current, focused in stimulating values of sustainability, through the several groups that ride through rural areas, to learn and contribute innovative solutions to the critical environmental conditions of the Earth.

The movement began as a romantic dream, though within time it became the biggest and most culturally diverse horse caravan on the planet. It proves how a group of people from all over the world, Arabs, Jews, Europeans, Americans, etc, could can be united with a common intention, beyond the differences of races or beliefs. Not as an expedition, tour or competition but as a system of nomadic organic communal life.

9 years have past since its birth and the movement continues growing and touching more remote villages, seeking to open the doors to change through reason and compassion, art and science, so that we can attempt to see beyond the spaces that separates to us, harmonize humans among the animals and the Earth.

We go one organic step at a time, we organize events that are a mixture of ethnic music and dances rescued from several countries, like Arab, African, Flamenco, dancers with fire torches, acrobatics with horses, clowns and everything to spark a festival of planetary sensations. The latest caravan began in Costa Rica in March of 2004, and it's already more than 3 years since the caravan took on crossing rural Central America , stopping town by town, village by village bringing the message of peace and ecology.

A day as any other is contrasted by the colorful parade of worldwide riders. Little villages where people perhaps never had the chance to leave their country, are suddenly faced with representatives of distant nations, lands that many never heard mentioned, thus awakening them to the awareness of the differences and similitude among cultures.

There are several projects that comprise this wave of conscience in different areas from ecological and social development, cultural interactions, which together form an integral holistic and non polluting campaign that seeks to address the root causes of environmental degradation without creating a negative impact on the environment.

Our nomadic life, organic and communal, is a powerful proposal for an alternative of a lifestyle that is constantly adapting to growth and change.

We live by traveling with our horses, eating vegetarian food, and by touching others with music from around the world, dancing to it with fire. We share what we have, camp in a great variety of landscapes, and we take the time to thoroughly understand each place we visit, the people and its customs, that under other circumstances remain hidden.

We exchange our knowledge for the chance to experience different local traditions at the same time we honor mother nature with all the strength of our spirits in order to protect her through our messages and actions.

How are we different!

The lifestyle of its members portrays a balance with nature.

The challenge to be freed from fossil fuels and certain habits present society which need to be changed and demonstrated through a different lifestyle.

Members are asked to personally evaluate and re-shape the ways they live in order to meet with that balance in the shortest time, a necessary transformation process that must be addressed of the individuals participating in the group.

We seek to achieve a greater unity with the message of ecological respect and in this way, we attempt to create lifestyles that are not only free of harmful emissions but that also work towards spreading the message to others so that changes can be encouraged and promoted.

This section is brought forward with the intention of shedding some light on the management and guidelines of NGO groups in order to look closely and analyze some of the problems that are common to all of us.

By looking at their actions, the results and consequences, there can arise suggestions as to how the problems can be remedied.

Our comparisons through research on NGOs throughout the world, have found a number of common issues that are in need of attention:

* Many problems stem from the lack of knowledge and effective transmission of the messages found to be dictated in their strategies, the sources of information and processes of research by which they receive contributions and how they are applied.

*Most donated organizations usually provide information though mostly rely on third party organization to execute fieldwork or activities. Some of these funds remain trapped in administrative expenses.
*Signing of petitions: This commonly used strategy rarely influences the decision of public figures. Even though it helps to inform the public, the simple signing of petitions does not necessarily inspire change.

* ACT NOW ?, Although honorable in intent, the alternatives offered are still tied to the mechanism of production and consumerism, and rarely produce a significant change needed to revert the mentioned processes.

*Realistically, the mandates of most corporate based NGO groups are in a form that is incongruent to the actions they intend to promote. For example: the members live in cities, they travel in cars and generally have the same consumption and unsustainable ways of living that they criticize. Though many groups make solid efforts to achieve an equilibrium its seems that those involved in certain organizations are merely messengers rather than actors that seek to live according to the messages they promote.

*Throughout the green movement we notice 2 clear distinctions between the corporate environmentalists, and those ecological activists that apply their work to their way of life. We intend to transcend competition as the challenge is for all humans alike thus we need to foster cooperation among all NGO's and institutions.

In our NGO, we seek to ensure that the members have the opportunity to actually live in coherence with the organizations vision of sustainability so that the experience of living these values gives them confidence when giving this message. This organization proposes a continually evolving process of integrating other NGO's in order to generate a successful wave of action for creating greener world.