The Human Forest Project

The Human Forest Project is a partnership between Anatolia Karteras and Patrick Grierson focused on creating events for people to give and receive loving touch, whilst using a percentage of profits to regenerate landscapes and ecosystems. 

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History 

In 2018, after visiting communities with a focus on ecosystem balance in Nicaragua, Australia, Scotland, Greece, Germany and France, Anatolia purchased EPOCH GROVE, a 40 acre organic farm in the Heathcote wine region of Victoria (1.5 hours from Melbourne), Australia with the view to regenerate the land and create a living community of those in service to the regeneration of land and humans through creativity and land care. 

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In 2020, during a break between Melbourne lockdowns, Anatolia her husband Patrick ran their first Human Forest touch event to a group of touch starved, from out of lock down friends and community, using all the profits to begin a tree planting and land regeneration project at EPOCH. The event was a success! Soon after they officially founded the he profit-for-purpose organisation Human Forest Project. 

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Over 2 years the Human Forest Project ran 20 events in Melbourne, raising $20,000 Australian dollars.

 

Profits were used to fund three community tree planting events and hire a local water sustainability contractor to create contour banks in the land to slow the flow of water and redirect it to the trees. 

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Australian Government Grant

In June 2023, Anatolia and Patrick were awarded a $60,000 grant from the Australian Government Export Market Development Grant to run events in Europe and the UK. 

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Future of the Human Forest Project 

Currently EPOCH GROVE is being taken care of whilst Anatolia focus on her artistic work and spreading the Human Forest Project in Europe and the UK. Her plan is to secure funding over time to support the land to be en example of what can happen when funding of benefactors, passion of people and land merge. 

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Anatolia and Patrick are currently training new facilitators around the world to run Human Forests and participate in the profit-for-purpose business structure of tithing a percentage of profits to local land and ecosystem regeneration projects. 

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Their goal is to see Human Forest's in communities around the world like 5 Rhythms because they know the need we collectively have as humans for loving, non-sexual, touch spaces. 

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Below are images from the land and some tree planting events Anatolia initiated. 

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You can follow the Human Forest Instagram account for updates.