A biocultural program in Venezuela preserves the tradition of the Blessed Palm and involves gathering several palm species in a certain group of mountains. This tradition dates back more than 250 years, it is located in Avila Park in the iconic mountain range that borders Caracas, Venezuela.
Los Palmeros de Chacao brotherhood was founded in the 18th century and has been declared a Cultural Asset of the Nation. Around the time of Holy Week in 1776, there was a yellow fever epidemic in Caracas that decimated half the population. The city's priest, José Antonio Mohedano, asks for forgiveness for the survivors and vows they will evoke the biblical passage of Jesus entering Jerusalem by searching for royal palms in El Avila before each Holy Week.
The plague passed, but the parish remains, and it has become a tradition. Each year on Friday before Palm Sunday, after the religious ceremony where the palm leaves are blessed, the palmeros/brothers climb the mountain and collect the branches of the royal palm.
They collect them in the sector called the "Cueva de Los Palmeros", going up through Sabas Nieves. They engage in different activities, such as telling stories, stopping at specific points as if going through the Stations of the Cross, maintaining trails, and planting and pruning palm trees. They spend the night in El Avila and travel down on Saturday morning with their palms. The church in the Plaza Bolivar in the Chacao Municipality is where the spikes are blessed and later distributed among the congregation at the Palm Sunday mass.
Traditionally, palmeros are inducted into the brotherhood by their parents. The age at which they are admitted to the clappers of Chacao is between four and five years, and they remain a part of the brotherhood until 80 years old.
This tradition was on the verge of disappearing three decades ago since palmeros did not have reforestation plans in place and national park authorities viewed them as a threat to the environment. Having realized this, the palmeros started pruning the plants instead of cutting them entirely.
As part of the biocultural program, educational projects were designed for young people, as well as cultural activities for the wider community. The biocultural project has involved hundreds of children and young people, and its educational component is a model that can be applied to any living heritage practice where culture and nature are closely connected, such as gathering the Blessed Palm during Holy Week.