Years ago, Coquira’s land told a different story. The pastures were overgrazed, the soil was dry, and monoculture pineapple fields had drained the land of vitality. Today those same fields are lush and alive.

Experience Panama’s biodiversity firsthand at the Coquira Soil Project, a farm, garden and restaurant. At this agritourism destination, about an hour’s drive from the city center, Thomas Patton and his wife, Adriana Roquer, offer garden and farm tours, share ways they’re making their land more fertile and take visitors horseback riding through verdant fields where cows and sheep graze.

There was a time when chemical fertilizers and pesticides didn't exist. Cattle didn't live locked in stables. Chickens didn’t live in pens amid their feces. Hands were the best tools for working the soil. In those days, we didn't emit tons of carbon dioxide. Energy came from natural sources. Industry was primarily artisanal, which limited pollution. Biodiversity was virtually intact. Regenerative agriculture proposes a return to the agricultural practices of the past.