MendoDragon

"One of us can make a difference, two of us form a committee, three of us start a movement and the world is bound to change…" — Judy Fjell

CFI participates in sustainable living at the MendoDragon Intentional Community in Boonville, CA. Boonville is small agricultural community in western Mendocino County with a population of 1,035 people (Census 2010). Nearby Hendy Woods State Park is home to 2 pristine Redwood groves with the Navarro River running through it. MendoDragon lies approximately 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean and within the California Floristic Province, a region recognized by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot

"The California Floristic Province is a zone of Mediterranean-type climate and has the high levels of plant endemism characteristic of these regions. The hotspot is home to the giant sequoia, the planet's largest living organism and its taller but less massive relative, the coastal redwood. This region also holds a number of threatened endemic species such as the giant kangaroo rat, the desert slender salamander, and some of the last individuals of the Critically Endangered California Condor. In fact, it is the largest avian breeding ground in the United States. Wilderness destruction caused by commercial farming is a major threat for the region as it generates half of all the agricultural products used by U.S. consumers. The hotspot is also heavily threatened by the expansion of urban areas, pollution, and road construction (Conservation International 2007)."

At Cloud Forest Institute we believe that the triad of community, education and conservation is the key to a sustainable future. We bring these three elements together through Service Learning courses and workshops in ecology, natural sciences, politics, economics, and practical skills like permaculture, natural building, food production and storage, language, environmental remediation and more.

By making teaching a community experience we can learn and create at the same time. In this way we become the change we want to see in the world and spread it out through concentric circles that are global in scale. Cloud Forest Institute offers workshops at MendoDragon, an intentional community in Boonville, CA.

MendoDragon is home to 7 people, and has 3 shareholders. The current plan is to grow to have at least 12 shareholders and be home for up to 20 people +/- . CFI's objective is to document the transition of this country ranchito into a self sufficient permaculture designed intentional community making each step of the process an educational tool for the greater community, through applied ecovillage design courses.

The community will be presenting educational offerings based on the development priorities for MendoDragon. Please visit the MendoDragon link for more community information and the workshop schedule.