Aerial view of a sustainable community with eco-friendly buildings surrounded by lush greenery.

Las Aguas Risas - Laughing Waters Vegan Community

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Forming
  • Ecological
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2018

What we do

Veganic Permaculture Fruit Forest Intentional Community and Forest Reserve in the High Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador.

Our goal is to protect and nurture Pachamama with minimal invasive impact. We are transforming degraded pastureland, restoring native forest and productive fruit forest.

The property is 100 hectares (approximately 250 acres), with many springs and streams and waterfalls, roughly 40% forest, 10% homestead and cultivated or ready to cultivate, and 50% pasture. We are a fully vegan environmentally-conscious eco-community. Members must be vegan, in accordance with the vegan society definition of veganism and understand what that means (not just plant-based, raw, fruitarian, flexitarian, or any other -tarian). Residents, volunteers, guests, and visitors, must understand and adhere to vegan principles at all times (on and off property) while staying at the community.

Priorities:
Pachamama, inclusivity (non-discrimination based on race, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity), species

Goals/Visions:
Peaceful, simple, minimalist, non-exploitative living, Preservation (forever), Conservation, respect, non-violence. Reforest with fruit trees and native species

7th Generation Principle:
The 7th Generation Principle is based on an ancient Iroquois philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world 7 generations into the future. Las Aguas Risas adheres to this principle in all decision making.

Population Growth:
Non-wildlife population growth – human, companion animal and “livestock” – is out of control globally, with immense negative impacts on wildlife and Pachamama. Las Aguas Risas is committed to reducing and reversing non-wildlife population growth. To this end, within the community we strongly discourage breeding, both human and non-human.

Our Mission

Las Aguas Risas goal is to protect and nurture Pachamama with minimal invasive impact. Peaceful, simple, vegan, minimalist, non-exploitative living, preservation (forever), conservation, respect, non-violence. Reforest with fruit trees and native species.

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Coliving
  • Ecovillage
  • Sustainability practices
  • Renewable energy systems
  • Waste reduction / composting
  • Permaculture design
  • Activities
  • Property management
  • Farming
  • Experiences
  • Networking

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2018
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2022
  • Started living together
  • 2 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
2

How to join

We expect to have a membership application/questionnaire available soon. In the meantime, interested prospective members can contact us directly.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

At this time we can be contacted by email or Facebook. We currently accept volunteers through WorkAway.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Decision-making process

  • Leadership Decides

A single person, couple, or small group makes most major decisions.

Governance structure

  • Founder/Leader-led

Primary authority rests with the community’s founder(s) or designated leader(s).

Conflict resolution approach

Currently only two founding members, Terry and Michael, are invested and share decisions. As the community expands we expect to transition to a form of sociocracy structure for community decisions. For the land, we expect to establish a non-profit foundation, or land trust, to hold and govern land issues.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Yes (20 hrs/week)
Members are expected to support themselves. Small enterprises, conforming to community standards, may be considered.

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • Approximately all meals

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced
  • Livestock / Animal Husbandry

Dietary type

  • Vegan Only

Dietary restriction

  • These restrictions are throughout the community

Community activities and engagement

  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association
  • Organization, Resource, or Network
  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use is prohibited in the community

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a single individual, couple, or Family Trust

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Cohousing

    Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
    interaction while maintaining independence.

  • Coliving

    Shared living spaces with private bedrooms/bathrooms and communal
    kitchens, dining, and social areas.

  • Ecovillage

    Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.

Sustainability approach

  • Renewable energy systems
  • Waste reduction / composting
  • Permaculture design

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Food forest
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics

Water conservation practices

  • Composting toilets

Waste management practices

  • Composting
  • Waste-to-energy or biochar
  • Land area size
    100 hectares

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Morona-Santiago, Ecuador

Las Aguas Risas - Laughing Waters Vegan Community

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

Need
  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Events
6 days ago

Womens Tiny Mud House Workshop

I’m Na, a regenerative designer, earthen builder and educator with the Global Ecovillage Network. I’m passionate about helping people step into action, however big or small. A women’s build I joined back in 2015 was a much needed transformational experience that set me on this path. Offering this workshop is a way of coming full circle and passing that same spark on. Sat 16 to Fri 22 January 2027 This is a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn earthen building techniques and build a tiny house from the earth up, with your own hands. Why tiny? A tiny house requires careful, creative design and asks – what space do we actually need to live? It uses far less material and takes less time to build, so it’s practical and economical. This also allows us to experience all stages of a house build, from design and brick-making to building and finishing. You’ll get your hands into every part of the build. We’ll work with mud brick (adobe), cob and bamboo, then earth plasters and finishes. This workshop is open to women of all ages and abilities are welcome. Come if you’re new and curious, if you want more practice on specific parts of a build, or simply to play in the mud with wonderful people. It’s genuinely good fun. We’ll be in my little forest, a small house on the edge of a village and national park, 20 km south of Chiang Mai, Thailand. You can stay on site in simple earthen dorms or tents, and we’ll share home-cooked Thai food in the cool, bright days of Thai winter. Read more and register here 
January 16, 2027 00:00 – January 22, 2027 23:59
Offer
  • Real Estate For Sale
2 weeks ago

Breathe the Magic

Set in Sea Elephant, Tasmania, within a remarkable conservation landscape, this contemporary home offers genuine privacy with the assurance that the surrounding native environment is protected for the future.  With its cool King Island climate and abundant rain and water supply, your lifetyle is secure in a climate future that is becoming unsettling. Experience the unique community lifestyle that only King Island can offer.  Sleep with the peace of knowing you live in a place where everyone looks out for everyone else, and someone will always have your back. 1675 Reekara Road offers slightly more than 51 hectares of protected King Island wilderness, of which approximately 48.84 hectares are protected under a conservation covenant encompassing King Island scrub, blue gum forest, remarkable wildlife. The property is surrounded by the Lavinia State Reserve and Council Hill Conservation Area. A 2 hectare residential entitlement provides ample space for planting vegetables, fruit trees,  keeping chickens, or creating other sustainable living infrastructure.  Already included are: – A well-maintained house built in 2023 with upstairs en-suite bedroom and deck with gorgeous views, including forest/ocean outlook. – A spacious downstairs bathroom provides options for guest accommodation – Just include a sleeper couch or 2 in the ample living area. – A large pristine kitchen, including pantry and laundry. – Small wood shed – Large shed or double garage built in 2024 – Enclosed garden – 40,000 litre water storage tank – large dam An existing approved DA means you have the option of further development.  Buy the property furnighed, unfurnished, or with a 2015 Jeep Wrangler thrown in.
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