World Rainforest Fund Grants
The World Rainforest Fund carefully considers rainforest preservation projects based on their credibility, ability to leverage funds, biodiversity impact, and relevance to local or indigineous peoples.
Learn more about World Rainforest Fund Grant Application >>
The World Rainforest Fund has recently given four important grants that were instrumental in saving or starting the process of saving large amounts of rainforest and many species of plants and animals. These grants are listed below. We need additional funds to further support the organizations we gave these grants to, as well as other worthy organizations saving tropical rainforests and biodiversity by empowering indigenous people who live in these forests. We are spearheading a drive to save the Amazon rainforest. The anti-environmental government of Brazil and other exploiters are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, and destroying the Amazon rainforest at much higher rates than usual. This is the largest rainforest on Earth, with the most species of plants and animals on the planet. We very much need your support to preserve as much of it as we possibly can. Please send the World Rainforest Fund as generous a contribution as you can today.
Donate to the World Rainforest Fund >>
Learn more about World Rainforest Fund Grant Application >>
The World Rainforest Fund has recently given four important grants that were instrumental in saving or starting the process of saving large amounts of rainforest and many species of plants and animals. These grants are listed below. We need additional funds to further support the organizations we gave these grants to, as well as other worthy organizations saving tropical rainforests and biodiversity by empowering indigenous people who live in these forests. We are spearheading a drive to save the Amazon rainforest. The anti-environmental government of Brazil and other exploiters are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, and destroying the Amazon rainforest at much higher rates than usual. This is the largest rainforest on Earth, with the most species of plants and animals on the planet. We very much need your support to preserve as much of it as we possibly can. Please send the World Rainforest Fund as generous a contribution as you can today.
Donate to the World Rainforest Fund >>
Issued Grants
The World Rainforest Fund has issued grants to the following organizations.
Hutukara Yanomami Association, Brazil. This WRF grant awarded in June, 2020 helped with radio communication to protect the rainforest of both the Yanomami people, who have the largest indigenous territory in the world, twice the size of Switzerland, home to the jaguar and Amazon River dolphin. This grant will also protect the rainforest of uncontacted Yanomami. Uncontacted tribes have the highest number of species per acre on Earth. Survival International and Hutukara’s leader both won Right Livelihood Awards, a prize often called the alternative Nobel Prize. Learn more about our work with the Hutukara Yanomami >>
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru (ORPIO). This WRF grant awarded in June, 2020 is providing medical supplies to the indigenous people of the species-rich rainforest of the Peruvian Amazon to keep them healthy by protecting them from the coronavirus, a major threat to them. The people are also using it to protect the uncontacted tribes there. The rainforest of uncontacted tribes has the highest biodiversity in the world. Learn more about our work with the Indiginous Peoples of Eastern Peru >>
Go Conscious Earth (GCE). The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo agreed to preserve large tracts of rainforest as preserves run by local people if GCE dug wells for water for the local people, and helped them in other ways. WRF grants, including the most recent one awarded in February, 2020, helped pay for these projects, saving thousands of acres of rainforest and starting the process to save more, including habitat for bonobo chimps, the closest relative of humans. Learn more about our work with Go Conscious Earth >>
International Rivers (IR). A WRF grant helped International Rivers stopped several dams on a river system in Peru that would have flooded and destroyed huge areas of rainforest. This saved roadless rainforest with among the highest number of species on Earth, including jaguars and many monkey species. Learn more about our work with International Rivers >>
The Borneo Project: Stopping Megadams in Borneo. WRF funding helped produce films and organize and empower people to stop megadams that would flood huge tracts of rainforest in Borneo. This saved thousands of acres of rainforest. Learn more about our work with The Borneo Project >>
John Parnell: the Sapara and the Sarayaku in Ecuadorian Rainforest. This grant awarded in July, 2020 helped an environmental hero who has worked with indigenous people for decades purchase radios so that the Sarayaku people of Ecuador can defend themselves from the coronavirus and protect their rainforest home. This region has the highest number of tree species of any ecosystem in the world. Just 1/4 of a square kilometer of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador supports over 1,100 species of trees. Learn more about our work with John Parnell >>
Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity. The World Rainforest Fund set the record for most species saved per donor dollar when it saved a 10,000-acre rainforest in Ecuador with the most species per acre in the world for only $3,500.00. Learn more about our work with the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity >>
Hutukara Yanomami Association, Brazil. This WRF grant awarded in June, 2020 helped with radio communication to protect the rainforest of both the Yanomami people, who have the largest indigenous territory in the world, twice the size of Switzerland, home to the jaguar and Amazon River dolphin. This grant will also protect the rainforest of uncontacted Yanomami. Uncontacted tribes have the highest number of species per acre on Earth. Survival International and Hutukara’s leader both won Right Livelihood Awards, a prize often called the alternative Nobel Prize. Learn more about our work with the Hutukara Yanomami >>
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru (ORPIO). This WRF grant awarded in June, 2020 is providing medical supplies to the indigenous people of the species-rich rainforest of the Peruvian Amazon to keep them healthy by protecting them from the coronavirus, a major threat to them. The people are also using it to protect the uncontacted tribes there. The rainforest of uncontacted tribes has the highest biodiversity in the world. Learn more about our work with the Indiginous Peoples of Eastern Peru >>
Go Conscious Earth (GCE). The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo agreed to preserve large tracts of rainforest as preserves run by local people if GCE dug wells for water for the local people, and helped them in other ways. WRF grants, including the most recent one awarded in February, 2020, helped pay for these projects, saving thousands of acres of rainforest and starting the process to save more, including habitat for bonobo chimps, the closest relative of humans. Learn more about our work with Go Conscious Earth >>
International Rivers (IR). A WRF grant helped International Rivers stopped several dams on a river system in Peru that would have flooded and destroyed huge areas of rainforest. This saved roadless rainforest with among the highest number of species on Earth, including jaguars and many monkey species. Learn more about our work with International Rivers >>
The Borneo Project: Stopping Megadams in Borneo. WRF funding helped produce films and organize and empower people to stop megadams that would flood huge tracts of rainforest in Borneo. This saved thousands of acres of rainforest. Learn more about our work with The Borneo Project >>
John Parnell: the Sapara and the Sarayaku in Ecuadorian Rainforest. This grant awarded in July, 2020 helped an environmental hero who has worked with indigenous people for decades purchase radios so that the Sarayaku people of Ecuador can defend themselves from the coronavirus and protect their rainforest home. This region has the highest number of tree species of any ecosystem in the world. Just 1/4 of a square kilometer of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador supports over 1,100 species of trees. Learn more about our work with John Parnell >>
Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity. The World Rainforest Fund set the record for most species saved per donor dollar when it saved a 10,000-acre rainforest in Ecuador with the most species per acre in the world for only $3,500.00. Learn more about our work with the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity >>
Hutukara Yanomami Association, Brazil
Represented by Survival International U. S. A. This grant from the World Rainforest Fund was given in 2020.
Hutukara Yanomami Association (henceforth, Hutukara) is the organization that the Yanomami indigenous people of the Amazon rainforests and mountains of northern Brazil formed to represent their interests and protect their rainforest homes. The Yanomami are the largest relatively isolated tribe in South America. They are one of the most populous indigenous tribes in Brazil with about 35,000 members. At over 9.6 million hectares, the Yanomami territory in Brazil is twice the size of Switzerland. This territory, along with additional Yanomami territory in Venezuela, makes up the largest indigenous territory of tropical rainforest in the world. It is larger than the entire country of Greece. The leader of this organization is the effective Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a man of great integrity who won the Right Livelihood Award, a prestigious award for those offering “answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”, in 2019. It is referred to as the “alternate Nobel Prize”. Survival International U. S. A. is representing Hutukara and helping with the transfer of the grant money from the World Rainforest Fund to Hutukara. Survival International is a human rights organization formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous peoples, including uncontacted peoples. It also won the right Livelihood Award, in 1989. Hutukara works to protect both its own land and the land of uncontacted Yanomami people. These are tribes that have never been contacted by any people of any race. Although most Yanomami are in contact with non-indigenous society, one uncontacted group is known to live in the area, and authorities are investigating signs of up to six other uncontacted communities living there. They have made it clear that they do not want to be contacted. Tropical rainforest is the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, meaning it has the most species of animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms per acre than any ecosystem on the planet. Of rainforests, the rainforest of the Amazon River Basin has the highest biodiversity in the world. It is the world’s largest rainforest. Of the Amazon rainforest, as with all rainforest, indigenous land has the highest biodiversity, because it is the least disturbed and destroyed by exploiters. Of rainforests occupied by indigenous people, rainforests of uncontacted tribes are the most biodiverse, because it is the very least impacted by those who would destroy rainforests. The uncontacted Yanomami are one of the largest uncontacted tribes on Earth. They are not contacted even by the contacted Yanomami.
The current threat that the grant from the World Rainforest Fund will help counter is from gold miners. The rainforest of the Yanomami is being invaded by up to 20,000 goldminers in northern Brazil, who spread malaria and are polluting many of the rivers with mercury, causing serious health and livelihood effects on the Yanomami. Gold mines destroy and pollute huge tracts of rainforest. There are also threats from loggers and farmers who plant cash crops. The uncontacted people have never been exposed to the diseases of other people, so have never developed immunity to them. So if exploiters enter their land, they could easily be decimated by disease from these invaders. Even the flu would have a devastating impact on them, greatly reducing their numbers. The coronavirus now poses an additional threat. A massive die off of them would leave be much less of them to protect their rainforest home, and it would be destroyed. They are the protectors of the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth.
This grant will aid them with the necessary radio communication necessary to protect their rainforest home and to protect them from disease, including the coronavirus. It will also be used to support the Yanomami in expelling illegal goldminers from their land. This includes crucial publicity.
The Amazon rainforest where the Yanomami live has the highest number of species of both animals and plants of any ecosystem on Earth. These include the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, a semi-aquatic one! The Amazon River dolphin is a rare freshwater dolphin. The giant anteater actually eats termites by invading their mounds, and is large and beautiful. The golden lion tamarin is a cute, miniature primate that mates for life. The jaguar might be the world’s most gorgeous cat. Amazing birds include the beautiful king vulture; several species of colorful parrots, including giant ones called macaws; many species of strange, beautiful toucans; and spectacled owls. Reptiles include black caimans, anacondas reaching 30 feet, spectacularly colorful coral snakes, green iguanas, and common basilisk lizards, which can run on the surface of water. Amphibians include colorful poison dart frogs and glass frogs, which have transparent and translucent abdominal skin. Large, beautiful butterflies, such as the blue morpho, and other amazing insects abound. Plants include the beautiful Heliconia; rubber tree; mahogany tree; thousands of species of orchids; cacao plant (from which chocolate is made); giant water lilies; passion fruit; hundreds of species of bromeliads growing on trees; vines hanging from trees, including monkey bush vines; banana trees; and coffee plants, which can grow 30 feet tall.
Hutukara Yanomami Association (henceforth, Hutukara) is the organization that the Yanomami indigenous people of the Amazon rainforests and mountains of northern Brazil formed to represent their interests and protect their rainforest homes. The Yanomami are the largest relatively isolated tribe in South America. They are one of the most populous indigenous tribes in Brazil with about 35,000 members. At over 9.6 million hectares, the Yanomami territory in Brazil is twice the size of Switzerland. This territory, along with additional Yanomami territory in Venezuela, makes up the largest indigenous territory of tropical rainforest in the world. It is larger than the entire country of Greece. The leader of this organization is the effective Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a man of great integrity who won the Right Livelihood Award, a prestigious award for those offering “answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”, in 2019. It is referred to as the “alternate Nobel Prize”. Survival International U. S. A. is representing Hutukara and helping with the transfer of the grant money from the World Rainforest Fund to Hutukara. Survival International is a human rights organization formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous peoples, including uncontacted peoples. It also won the right Livelihood Award, in 1989. Hutukara works to protect both its own land and the land of uncontacted Yanomami people. These are tribes that have never been contacted by any people of any race. Although most Yanomami are in contact with non-indigenous society, one uncontacted group is known to live in the area, and authorities are investigating signs of up to six other uncontacted communities living there. They have made it clear that they do not want to be contacted. Tropical rainforest is the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, meaning it has the most species of animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms per acre than any ecosystem on the planet. Of rainforests, the rainforest of the Amazon River Basin has the highest biodiversity in the world. It is the world’s largest rainforest. Of the Amazon rainforest, as with all rainforest, indigenous land has the highest biodiversity, because it is the least disturbed and destroyed by exploiters. Of rainforests occupied by indigenous people, rainforests of uncontacted tribes are the most biodiverse, because it is the very least impacted by those who would destroy rainforests. The uncontacted Yanomami are one of the largest uncontacted tribes on Earth. They are not contacted even by the contacted Yanomami.
The current threat that the grant from the World Rainforest Fund will help counter is from gold miners. The rainforest of the Yanomami is being invaded by up to 20,000 goldminers in northern Brazil, who spread malaria and are polluting many of the rivers with mercury, causing serious health and livelihood effects on the Yanomami. Gold mines destroy and pollute huge tracts of rainforest. There are also threats from loggers and farmers who plant cash crops. The uncontacted people have never been exposed to the diseases of other people, so have never developed immunity to them. So if exploiters enter their land, they could easily be decimated by disease from these invaders. Even the flu would have a devastating impact on them, greatly reducing their numbers. The coronavirus now poses an additional threat. A massive die off of them would leave be much less of them to protect their rainforest home, and it would be destroyed. They are the protectors of the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth.
This grant will aid them with the necessary radio communication necessary to protect their rainforest home and to protect them from disease, including the coronavirus. It will also be used to support the Yanomami in expelling illegal goldminers from their land. This includes crucial publicity.
The Amazon rainforest where the Yanomami live has the highest number of species of both animals and plants of any ecosystem on Earth. These include the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, a semi-aquatic one! The Amazon River dolphin is a rare freshwater dolphin. The giant anteater actually eats termites by invading their mounds, and is large and beautiful. The golden lion tamarin is a cute, miniature primate that mates for life. The jaguar might be the world’s most gorgeous cat. Amazing birds include the beautiful king vulture; several species of colorful parrots, including giant ones called macaws; many species of strange, beautiful toucans; and spectacled owls. Reptiles include black caimans, anacondas reaching 30 feet, spectacularly colorful coral snakes, green iguanas, and common basilisk lizards, which can run on the surface of water. Amphibians include colorful poison dart frogs and glass frogs, which have transparent and translucent abdominal skin. Large, beautiful butterflies, such as the blue morpho, and other amazing insects abound. Plants include the beautiful Heliconia; rubber tree; mahogany tree; thousands of species of orchids; cacao plant (from which chocolate is made); giant water lilies; passion fruit; hundreds of species of bromeliads growing on trees; vines hanging from trees, including monkey bush vines; banana trees; and coffee plants, which can grow 30 feet tall.
Contact:
Davi Kopenawa www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/davi-kopenawa-hutukara-yanomami-association
Hutukara Yanomami Association, Brazil
Representing Organization:
Survival International U. S. A.
P. O. Box 26345
San Francisco, CA 94126
Daniel Lavelle (510)-858-3950 (office)
[email protected]
Hutukara Yanomami Association (henceforth, Hutukara) is the organization that the Yanomami indigenous people of the Amazon rainforests and mountains of northern Brazil formed to represent their interests and protect their rainforest homes. The Yanomami are the largest relatively isolated tribe in South America. They are one of the most populous indigenous tribes in Brazil with about 35,000 members. At over 9.6 million hectares, the Yanomami territory in Brazil is twice the size of Switzerland. This territory, along with additional Yanomami territory in Venezuela, makes up the largest indigenous territory of tropical rainforest in the world. It is larger than the entire country of Greece. The leader of this organization is the effective Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a man of great integrity who won the Right Livelihood Award, a prestigious award for those offering “answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”, in 2019. It is referred to as the “alternate Nobel Prize”. Survival International U. S. A. is representing Hutukara and helping with the transfer of the grant money from the World Rainforest Fund to Hutukara. Survival International is a human rights organization formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous peoples, including uncontacted peoples. It also won the right Livelihood Award, in 1989. Hutukara works to protect both its own land and the land of uncontacted Yanomami people. These are tribes that have never been contacted by any people of any race. Although most Yanomami are in contact with non-indigenous society, one uncontacted group is known to live in the area, and authorities are investigating signs of up to six other uncontacted communities living there. They have made it clear that they do not want to be contacted. Tropical rainforest is the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, meaning it has the most species of animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms per acre than any ecosystem on the planet. Of rainforests, the rainforest of the Amazon River Basin has the highest biodiversity in the world. It is the world’s largest rainforest. Of the Amazon rainforest, as with all rainforest, indigenous land has the highest biodiversity, because it is the least disturbed and destroyed by exploiters. Of rainforests occupied by indigenous people, rainforests of uncontacted tribes are the most biodiverse, because it is the very least impacted by those who would destroy rainforests. The uncontacted Yanomami are one of the largest uncontacted tribes on Earth. They are not contacted even by the contacted Yanomami.
The current threat that the grant from the World Rainforest Fund will help counter is from gold miners. The rainforest of the Yanomami is being invaded by up to 20,000 goldminers in northern Brazil, who spread malaria and are polluting many of the rivers with mercury, causing serious health and livelihood effects on the Yanomami. Gold mines destroy and pollute huge tracts of rainforest. There are also threats from loggers and farmers who plant cash crops. The uncontacted people have never been exposed to the diseases of other people, so have never developed immunity to them. So if exploiters enter their land, they could easily be decimated by disease from these invaders. Even the flu would have a devastating impact on them, greatly reducing their numbers. The coronavirus now poses an additional threat. A massive die off of them would leave be much less of them to protect their rainforest home, and it would be destroyed. They are the protectors of the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth.
This grant will aid them with the necessary radio communication necessary to protect their rainforest home and to protect them from disease, including the coronavirus. It will also be used to support the Yanomami in expelling illegal goldminers from their land. This includes crucial publicity.
The Amazon rainforest where the Yanomami live has the highest number of species of both animals and plants of any ecosystem on Earth. These include the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, a semi-aquatic one! The Amazon River dolphin is a rare freshwater dolphin. The giant anteater actually eats termites by invading their mounds, and is large and beautiful. The golden lion tamarin is a cute, miniature primate that mates for life. The jaguar might be the world’s most gorgeous cat. Amazing birds include the beautiful king vulture; several species of colorful parrots, including giant ones called macaws; many species of strange, beautiful toucans; and spectacled owls. Reptiles include black caimans, anacondas reaching 30 feet, spectacularly colorful coral snakes, green iguanas, and common basilisk lizards, which can run on the surface of water. Amphibians include colorful poison dart frogs and glass frogs, which have transparent and translucent abdominal skin. Large, beautiful butterflies, such as the blue morpho, and other amazing insects abound. Plants include the beautiful Heliconia; rubber tree; mahogany tree; thousands of species of orchids; cacao plant (from which chocolate is made); giant water lilies; passion fruit; hundreds of species of bromeliads growing on trees; vines hanging from trees, including monkey bush vines; banana trees; and coffee plants, which can grow 30 feet tall.
Hutukara Yanomami Association (henceforth, Hutukara) is the organization that the Yanomami indigenous people of the Amazon rainforests and mountains of northern Brazil formed to represent their interests and protect their rainforest homes. The Yanomami are the largest relatively isolated tribe in South America. They are one of the most populous indigenous tribes in Brazil with about 35,000 members. At over 9.6 million hectares, the Yanomami territory in Brazil is twice the size of Switzerland. This territory, along with additional Yanomami territory in Venezuela, makes up the largest indigenous territory of tropical rainforest in the world. It is larger than the entire country of Greece. The leader of this organization is the effective Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a man of great integrity who won the Right Livelihood Award, a prestigious award for those offering “answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”, in 2019. It is referred to as the “alternate Nobel Prize”. Survival International U. S. A. is representing Hutukara and helping with the transfer of the grant money from the World Rainforest Fund to Hutukara. Survival International is a human rights organization formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous peoples, including uncontacted peoples. It also won the right Livelihood Award, in 1989. Hutukara works to protect both its own land and the land of uncontacted Yanomami people. These are tribes that have never been contacted by any people of any race. Although most Yanomami are in contact with non-indigenous society, one uncontacted group is known to live in the area, and authorities are investigating signs of up to six other uncontacted communities living there. They have made it clear that they do not want to be contacted. Tropical rainforest is the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, meaning it has the most species of animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms per acre than any ecosystem on the planet. Of rainforests, the rainforest of the Amazon River Basin has the highest biodiversity in the world. It is the world’s largest rainforest. Of the Amazon rainforest, as with all rainforest, indigenous land has the highest biodiversity, because it is the least disturbed and destroyed by exploiters. Of rainforests occupied by indigenous people, rainforests of uncontacted tribes are the most biodiverse, because it is the very least impacted by those who would destroy rainforests. The uncontacted Yanomami are one of the largest uncontacted tribes on Earth. They are not contacted even by the contacted Yanomami.
The current threat that the grant from the World Rainforest Fund will help counter is from gold miners. The rainforest of the Yanomami is being invaded by up to 20,000 goldminers in northern Brazil, who spread malaria and are polluting many of the rivers with mercury, causing serious health and livelihood effects on the Yanomami. Gold mines destroy and pollute huge tracts of rainforest. There are also threats from loggers and farmers who plant cash crops. The uncontacted people have never been exposed to the diseases of other people, so have never developed immunity to them. So if exploiters enter their land, they could easily be decimated by disease from these invaders. Even the flu would have a devastating impact on them, greatly reducing their numbers. The coronavirus now poses an additional threat. A massive die off of them would leave be much less of them to protect their rainforest home, and it would be destroyed. They are the protectors of the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth.
This grant will aid them with the necessary radio communication necessary to protect their rainforest home and to protect them from disease, including the coronavirus. It will also be used to support the Yanomami in expelling illegal goldminers from their land. This includes crucial publicity.
The Amazon rainforest where the Yanomami live has the highest number of species of both animals and plants of any ecosystem on Earth. These include the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, a semi-aquatic one! The Amazon River dolphin is a rare freshwater dolphin. The giant anteater actually eats termites by invading their mounds, and is large and beautiful. The golden lion tamarin is a cute, miniature primate that mates for life. The jaguar might be the world’s most gorgeous cat. Amazing birds include the beautiful king vulture; several species of colorful parrots, including giant ones called macaws; many species of strange, beautiful toucans; and spectacled owls. Reptiles include black caimans, anacondas reaching 30 feet, spectacularly colorful coral snakes, green iguanas, and common basilisk lizards, which can run on the surface of water. Amphibians include colorful poison dart frogs and glass frogs, which have transparent and translucent abdominal skin. Large, beautiful butterflies, such as the blue morpho, and other amazing insects abound. Plants include the beautiful Heliconia; rubber tree; mahogany tree; thousands of species of orchids; cacao plant (from which chocolate is made); giant water lilies; passion fruit; hundreds of species of bromeliads growing on trees; vines hanging from trees, including monkey bush vines; banana trees; and coffee plants, which can grow 30 feet tall.
Contact:
Davi Kopenawa www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/davi-kopenawa-hutukara-yanomami-association
Hutukara Yanomami Association, Brazil
Representing Organization:
Survival International U. S. A.
P. O. Box 26345
San Francisco, CA 94126
Daniel Lavelle (510)-858-3950 (office)
[email protected]
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru
Represented by the Amazon Conservation Team.This grant from the World Rainforest Fund was awarded in 2020.
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru (ORPIO) works to defend the rights and territories of its partner indigenous communities in Peru by promoting territorial land rights, community forest monitoring and vigilance, and political and economic autonomy. The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) partners with indigenous and local peoples of the Amazon to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture. ORPIO and ACT collaborate in northern Peru to improve protection for indigenous groups in voluntary isolation (uncontacted tribes) by conducting research, facilitating community workshops, and providing technical mapping training.
This grant from the World Rainforest Fund was originally intended to contribute to the protection of approximately 3,000 square kilometers of highly biodiverse rainforest in northern Peru, and the isolated indigenous groups that call it home, by collaborating with indigenous communities to strengthen their abilities to manage and protect their territory. This would include facilitating territorial land rights processes, and supporting community-based forest monitoring.
However, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread in the Amazon, at ORPIO’s request, WRF redirected the funds to ORPIO’s and ACT’s efforts to respond to the urgent needs of indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon to protect their lives, livelihoods, and in turn, their ancestral forests and isolated neighbors during this emergency. This includes facilitating the delivery of biosecurity equipment such as face masks and sanitizing materials, as well as food supplies, medicine and medical care, and fuel for transportation to health centers. The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading quickly in the Amazon region. As of June 26, 8,743 people have been infected and 334 have died in the state of Loreto, Peru, and 67,267 people have been infected and 2,731 have died in the neighboring Brazilian state of Amazonas. Indigenous communities are among the most vulnerable and they are pleading for support. Without a healthy, robust population of indigenous people to defend the rainforest, it is sure to disappear. They are necessary to preserve the rainforest.
This grant will contribute to the protection of a total of 300,000 hectares of rainforest. This is 3,000 square kilometers, or about 741,000 acres. This grant is protecting the lowland tropical rainforests around Iquitos, Peru. Indigenous-led protection efforts will focus on the proposed Yavarí Mirim indigenous reserve, which is approximately 3,400,000 acres, or about 13,800 square kilometers, and its adjacent northern buffer area in the headwaters of the Mayoruna River watershed. The Yavarí Mirim valley has shown remarkably high levels of biodiversity in recent biological surveys, despite being located just 60 kilometers south of the city of Iquitos and after being overrun by rubber tappers at the beginning of the 20th century and illegal loggers in recent years. Experts recognize its rainforests as being among the most diverse tree communities in the world. Recent biological inventories registered 1,650 species of plants in Yavarí Mirim. There are an estimated 2,500-3,500 plant species present in total area to be protected, including more than 2,000 tree and shrub species. Many keystone tree species now mostly eradicated in other areas of Peru can still found in Yavarí Mirim, including palo de rosa and other economically important timber species, resulting in high logging pressures.
This rainforest is also among the world leaders in richness of mammal species. In Yavarí Mirin, 39 large terrestrial mammal species were recorded, many with healthy populations, and there are believed to be 150 mammal species present in the total area to be protected by this World Rainforest Fund grant. Twenty-four of the species confirmed or thought to be in the area are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature or by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), including the giant river otter, the bush dog, the lowland tapir, the giant armadillo, the giant anteater, and the red uakari monkey (Cacajao calvus), an exceptionally rare primate that resides only in palm swamp habitats and is protected nowhere else in Peru. Yavarí Mirim has at least 11 populations of this species with some groups having more than 200 individuals. About half of these populations are in areas currently slated for logging activity if the reserve is not created. (Hovig: Put in the immediately previous sentence in italics, then delete this sentence, this note to you.)
Yavarí Mirim is also home to a remarkable diversity of birds, with some 400 species identified and an estimated 500 within the reserve area, including healthy populations of large macaws and parrots. The rare red-fan parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus) was seen several times in this region, after previously only being known in Peru from a single record and not reported for half a century. This area also likely serves as an important flyway for Amazonian birds, as field biologists have observed large-scale migration events with a diverse mix of bird species.
The Yavarí Marim Basin is composed of a mosaic of aquatic habitats, including flooded forests, palm swamps, oxbow lakes, and black water, whitewater, and clear water rivers. Located at the headwaters of six major regional rivers, this region is an important spawning ground for immense Amazonian fish species, including economically important species like arapaima (Arapaima gigas) and large catfish. Some of the fish are in a symbiotic relationship with trees, whereby they eat the fruit of the trees and disperse the seeds in the fruit for the trees. Young trees that are dispersed and grow far from their parents are much less likely to be shaded to death by other trees, eaten by herbivores, or attacked by fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Recent biological inventories identified 240 species of fish, with ten new to science and twenty new to Peru. Roughly one in ten of the fish species collected in the area represented new records for Peru, with many new to science. Experts estimate there are more than 400 species of fish in the region, as well as 115 species of amphibians and 100 species reptiles, including the black caiman and Amazonian river turtle.
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru (ORPIO)
Av. Del Ejercito 1718
Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
https://www.orpio.org.pe/
Representing Organization:
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT)
4211 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
[email protected]
https://www.amazonteam.org/
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru (ORPIO) works to defend the rights and territories of its partner indigenous communities in Peru by promoting territorial land rights, community forest monitoring and vigilance, and political and economic autonomy. The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) partners with indigenous and local peoples of the Amazon to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture. ORPIO and ACT collaborate in northern Peru to improve protection for indigenous groups in voluntary isolation (uncontacted tribes) by conducting research, facilitating community workshops, and providing technical mapping training.
This grant from the World Rainforest Fund was originally intended to contribute to the protection of approximately 3,000 square kilometers of highly biodiverse rainforest in northern Peru, and the isolated indigenous groups that call it home, by collaborating with indigenous communities to strengthen their abilities to manage and protect their territory. This would include facilitating territorial land rights processes, and supporting community-based forest monitoring.
However, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to spread in the Amazon, at ORPIO’s request, WRF redirected the funds to ORPIO’s and ACT’s efforts to respond to the urgent needs of indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon to protect their lives, livelihoods, and in turn, their ancestral forests and isolated neighbors during this emergency. This includes facilitating the delivery of biosecurity equipment such as face masks and sanitizing materials, as well as food supplies, medicine and medical care, and fuel for transportation to health centers. The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading quickly in the Amazon region. As of June 26, 8,743 people have been infected and 334 have died in the state of Loreto, Peru, and 67,267 people have been infected and 2,731 have died in the neighboring Brazilian state of Amazonas. Indigenous communities are among the most vulnerable and they are pleading for support. Without a healthy, robust population of indigenous people to defend the rainforest, it is sure to disappear. They are necessary to preserve the rainforest.
This grant will contribute to the protection of a total of 300,000 hectares of rainforest. This is 3,000 square kilometers, or about 741,000 acres. This grant is protecting the lowland tropical rainforests around Iquitos, Peru. Indigenous-led protection efforts will focus on the proposed Yavarí Mirim indigenous reserve, which is approximately 3,400,000 acres, or about 13,800 square kilometers, and its adjacent northern buffer area in the headwaters of the Mayoruna River watershed. The Yavarí Mirim valley has shown remarkably high levels of biodiversity in recent biological surveys, despite being located just 60 kilometers south of the city of Iquitos and after being overrun by rubber tappers at the beginning of the 20th century and illegal loggers in recent years. Experts recognize its rainforests as being among the most diverse tree communities in the world. Recent biological inventories registered 1,650 species of plants in Yavarí Mirim. There are an estimated 2,500-3,500 plant species present in total area to be protected, including more than 2,000 tree and shrub species. Many keystone tree species now mostly eradicated in other areas of Peru can still found in Yavarí Mirim, including palo de rosa and other economically important timber species, resulting in high logging pressures.
This rainforest is also among the world leaders in richness of mammal species. In Yavarí Mirin, 39 large terrestrial mammal species were recorded, many with healthy populations, and there are believed to be 150 mammal species present in the total area to be protected by this World Rainforest Fund grant. Twenty-four of the species confirmed or thought to be in the area are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature or by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), including the giant river otter, the bush dog, the lowland tapir, the giant armadillo, the giant anteater, and the red uakari monkey (Cacajao calvus), an exceptionally rare primate that resides only in palm swamp habitats and is protected nowhere else in Peru. Yavarí Mirim has at least 11 populations of this species with some groups having more than 200 individuals. About half of these populations are in areas currently slated for logging activity if the reserve is not created. (Hovig: Put in the immediately previous sentence in italics, then delete this sentence, this note to you.)
Yavarí Mirim is also home to a remarkable diversity of birds, with some 400 species identified and an estimated 500 within the reserve area, including healthy populations of large macaws and parrots. The rare red-fan parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus) was seen several times in this region, after previously only being known in Peru from a single record and not reported for half a century. This area also likely serves as an important flyway for Amazonian birds, as field biologists have observed large-scale migration events with a diverse mix of bird species.
The Yavarí Marim Basin is composed of a mosaic of aquatic habitats, including flooded forests, palm swamps, oxbow lakes, and black water, whitewater, and clear water rivers. Located at the headwaters of six major regional rivers, this region is an important spawning ground for immense Amazonian fish species, including economically important species like arapaima (Arapaima gigas) and large catfish. Some of the fish are in a symbiotic relationship with trees, whereby they eat the fruit of the trees and disperse the seeds in the fruit for the trees. Young trees that are dispersed and grow far from their parents are much less likely to be shaded to death by other trees, eaten by herbivores, or attacked by fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Recent biological inventories identified 240 species of fish, with ten new to science and twenty new to Peru. Roughly one in ten of the fish species collected in the area represented new records for Peru, with many new to science. Experts estimate there are more than 400 species of fish in the region, as well as 115 species of amphibians and 100 species reptiles, including the black caiman and Amazonian river turtle.
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Peru (ORPIO)
Av. Del Ejercito 1718
Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
https://www.orpio.org.pe/
Representing Organization:
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT)
4211 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
[email protected]
https://www.amazonteam.org/
Go Conscious Earth: Saving Earth’s Second Largest Rainforest
The World Rainforest Fund has recently given grants to Go Conscious Earth (GCE). It also conceived and advised on a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $50,000.00 for GCE. This non-profit organization works to save the rainforest of the Congo River Basin and wetlands and Lake Tumba near this rainforest. It has offices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and has an office and 501c3 (tax-exempt) status in the US.
The Congo Basin rainforest is the second largest in the world, second only to the Amazon Basin. It has among the most species of animals and plants of any ecosystem on Earth. It has some of Earth’s most unique and valuable species, including the rare Bonobo Chimpanzee. This is our closest living relative; we have 98.7% of our genes in common with it! It is peaceful, highly intelligent, and empathic. Unlike common chimpanzees and humans, bonobos never settle disputes through violence or fighting. They live only in the Congo Basin, and if this rainforest is destroyed, they will be lost forever. They are endangered from poaching and destruction of their rainforest home.
This rainforest is also home to the endangered African Forest Elephant, the smallest of the Earth’s three species of elephants, and the only one that lives most of its life in the forest. Due to a slower birth rate than other elephant species, the forest elephant takes longer to recover from poaching, which caused its population to fall by 65% from 2002 to 2014. It lives in the greater Congo Basin, so loss of this forest will not send it entirely extinct, but will remove much of its prime habitat, tremendously reduce its numbers, and greatly decrease its odds of survival.
This forest is home to the unique Pygmy people and other indigenous people who depend on it for their survival. This rainforest has been found to be particularly good at removing the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere, so is a key to helping stop human-induced global climate change.
The Congo Basin rainforest contains a large freshwater lake, Lake Tumba, which is generally 295 square miles, although its size varies seasonally. It is connected to the Congo River. Lake Tumba has 114 species of fish and supports important fisheries. The lake lies at the center of the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention in 2008. It has large areas of wetlands with high species diversity. Lake Tumba is home to over 100,000 indigenous people. All of the people living there are without adequate food, clean water, healthcare, education, electricity, and transportation. In their efforts to survive and feed their families, they have been forced to use unsustainable farming and fishing techniques that harm the rainforest and the lake. They want to preserve their homeland, but they need more resources to be able to implement viable alternatives.
GCE is headed by Godi Godar, eldest son of the chief of the Bantomba tribe. As a result of his lineage, he has strong generational ties to the communities in the area, and high credibility and close relationships with the community, local and indigenous peoples, and the DRC government. In 2014, he secured an important agreement between his village and neighboring villages, and the DRC government. The DRC government signed an agreement to preserve one million acres of rainforest and wetlands, and not allow corporate and foreign exploiters to come in and destroy the rainforest or the lake. In return, GCE must provide for the needs of the people in this entire million acres of rainforest. If this is not accomplished within a few years, the DRC will open the rainforest and lake to exploitation and destruction. If GCE can provide for the local people in this time frame, the DRC government will permanently preserve the rainforest and lake. This agreement was signed by the DRC Ministry of the Environment and the local indigenous communities, including the Bantomba and Pygmy people. It is legally supported by the new federal law guaranteeing tribal land rights and rainforest protection. Godi Godar brought the local communities together for a series of meetings to define the needs of each community and re-establish control over their forest homeland, with the attendance and support of the Ministry of Environment of the DRC government.
GCE has established an integrated protection plan for the rainforest and lake, including long-term plans for regional economic and community development. GCE realizes that rainforest conservation, endangered animal protection, and economic and community development are inextricably linked.
Most of the local and indigenous people do not have access to clean water. This is the biggest need of the people, and most important action item to keep GCE’s part of the agreement with the DRC government, and to win the crucially-needed support of the local people for conservation of the rainforest. Most people draw their water from Lake Tumba, which is contaminated because of the lack of sanitation in the surrounding villages. The only wells that exist there are wells that are excavated by hand shovel and tend to run dry. In February of 2016, GCE built five community water wells in five villages around Lake Tumba, providing the only source of clean water to 10,000 people. They also provided technology that allows the villagers, with the help of GCE, to build hundreds of wells at a fraction of the cost of traditional well-building for the region.
GCE has developed and implemented anti-poaching and conservation initiatives. The former are important because of poaching for the bush meat of elephants, bonobos, and other wildlife. They are helping restore the ecology of Lake Tumba, which suffers from pollution.
GCE is an all-volunteer organization. Through the end of 2015, GCE’s operational costs were less than 7% of the total revenues for the year.
Part of its approach is to help the DRC government fulfill its constitutional promise to make rainforest conservation and anti-poverty initiatives a reality in what are some of the poorest areas in the world. It raises awareness about rainforest destruction. GCE is securing the tribal land rights for the indigenous people living in the area. GCE also helped the local villages form Tribal Councils, which monitor and safeguard the wells, and implement GCE initiatives for the villages they represent.
It is committed to building community health centers, schools, and women's and maternity centers; aiding in sustainable long-term farming and fishing initiatives; helping build forest ranger programs to end illegal logging and protect the endangered animals living in the region; and building centers for women’s income generation. Empowering women to earn more income generally results in them having less children. This alleviates the over-population problem, which is one of the major causes of environmental destruction.
GCE is working with neighboring tribes and the DRC government to establish additional areas of protected rainforest. Because of GCE’s success, it has been approached by villages in neighboring areas to help protect their rainforest homeland and support their communities. In fact, it is already beginning the process of conserving an adjacent one million acres of rainforest. GCE is working with the communities in this rainforest to create and implement projects that the communities decide are necessary for their health, survival, and well-being.
Logging, commercial farming, and poaching are all still taking their toll on the region. In addition to cutting down parts of the rainforest, logging roads in the Congo rainforest also open up vast areas to commercial hunting of wildlife, including Bonobo Chimps and monkeys. Go Conscious Earth is needed more than ever to stop these destructive practices.
GCE works to save the Congo Basin Rainforest, the world’s second largest rainforest, one of the most biodiverse, and one of the greatest removers of the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, on Earth. It partners with forest-dependent communities to protect the Congo Basin Rainforest, improve the livelihood of the people, and support global climate stability. GCE negotiated a signed agreement with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in which the government agreed to protect millions of acres of rainforest as parks run by the local, indigenous people in the Congo Basin Rainforest. In return, CGE agreed to drill wells for the local and indigenous people, so they could have a clean water supply. Lake Tumba, a large local lake there, is polluted, and clean water in the area is in very short supply. GCE further agreed to build schools and develop sustainable agriculture for the people. The World Rainforest Fund has helped save millions of acres of Congo Basin Rainforest by supporting GCE in its projects. The Congo government has kept its word and protected the rainforest. GCE and the Congo government set up reserves administered by local and indigenous people, assuring lasting preservation, because the reserves have the support of the local people, as well as the federal government, which also recognizes the reserves as protected areas.
GCE’s projects are located in the Lake Tumba region of Equateur Province, in the DRC. As the world’s largest swamp forest, second largest wetland area, and home to the largest Ramsar Freshwater Wetland of International Importance, the Lake Tumba landscape is known for its extraordinary biodiversity. Two million people depend on this area's rich forests, marshes, savannahs and meadows, seasonally-flooded woodlands and lakes, floating prairies, ponds and rivers - as well as the renowned carbon dense peatlands.
The Congo Basin Rainforest is the second largest carbon reserve in the world, storing carbon in trees, keeping the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, out of the atmosphere, and thus countering the effects of human-induced climate change. The DRC's above-ground forests store 24 billion tons of carbon locked in its vegetation. This would actually amount to 88 billion tons of carbon released into the atmosphere if the forests are cut or destroyed. Carbon stored in the DRC's portion of the Basin exists in a matrix of both living, above-ground forest vegetation and partially decomposed below ground vegetable matter, in the form of peat. Peatlands are intensely carbon-rich areas that cover a mere three percent of the Earth’s surface, yet store one-third of the world’s soil carbon. The DRC contains over half of the world’s below-round carbon stock, stored in the vitally important Cuvette Central Peatland Complex. Cuvette stores 30 percent of the world's tropical carbon, and has soil stocks equivalent to the above-ground vegetation of the entire Congo Basin Rainforest, spanning six African nations. Cuvette stores 33 billion tons of carbon, an amount equal to 20 years of U.S. fossil fuel emissions! The long-term maintenance of these carbon-storing forests and peat bogs is essential to global climate stability and mitigation of excess carbon emissions caused by humans.
Mission of Go Conscious Earth
GCE was founded by Godi Godar, who has connections to both local and indigenous people and government officials. He has dedicated his life to preserving the rainforest of the Congo Basin and Lake Tumba, and helping the poor, indigenous people there.
Expanding Community Forestry Concessions
Last year, GCE went to the Lokongo region of the DRC to begin surveying, mapping, and collecting information in four communities South of Lake Tumba. These communities have urgently requested GCE’s support in establishing their Community Forestry Concessions. GCE is excited to take this step in the process of establishing long-term protections in such a highly bio-diverse, important region, a task that it said it could not do without the support of the World Rainforest Fund. The staff of GCE stated that they are extremely grateful for grants from the World Rainforest Fund that are helping to make their work possible.
Well Installations
Using grants from the World rainforest Fund and others, GCE ended 2019 with Godi Godar's successful trip to Lake Tumba to complete the installation of six wells in the villages of: Bokonga, Bokaka Mboboko, Negelo Monzoi, Olo, and Ikoko Bonginda. GCE has now built a total of 17 wells, serving approximately 34,000 people with clean water!
GCE Action Summary 2020-2023
With strong ties to the local community and government, GCE was able to secure a temporary agreement with the DRC federal government which protected one million acres of land surrounding indigenous and local villages. In exchange, GCE promised to work with the people to create sustainable development initiatives such as their clean water program, which has provided drinkable well water to thousands. GCE’s accomplishments thus far have not only protected the health of the rainforest, wildlife, and people, but have also proven the success of community-based conservation and anti-poverty initiatives to the DRC government. GCE is now positioned for even greater progress, as it continues working closely with communities to implement the DRC's unprecedented national Local Community Forestry Concessions (LCFCs) land-rights law (2016), which ensure forest-dependent rights of local communities to their customary and ancestral lands in perpetuity. Under the new law guaranteeing these rights, GCE will continue, as it has from its beginnings, to work diligently at the intersection of rainforest conservation, poverty alleviation, and the development of sustainable livelihood initiatives. A community-centered approach to rainforest conservation has always been at the heart of its mission. It is well situated for continued success.
Implementing a Sustainable Approach to Rainforest Conservation: Supporting Community Forestry in the DRC
1. The Congo Basin Rainforest: A Unique Ecosystem
The Congo River is Earth's second largest river by volume, draining an area almost half the size of the continental US, called the Congo Basin Rainforest. The second-largest contiguous tract of tropical rainforest in the world, the Basin consists of rich, biodiverse rainforests and swamps which span the six central African nations of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the DRC. The DRC boasts more than 60% of the total Basin and Central Africa's lowland forest cover. It is estimated that 75 million people and 150 distinct ethnic groups depend on this rainforest for food, wood, subsistence agriculture, fish, regulation of local climate and water flows, soil protection and enrichment, and other services from nature. Many of these communities practice a traditional hunter-gatherer way of life.
Biodeviersity: Home to many species of endangered wildlife, the Basin provides habitat to about half of the remaining elephants in Africa, okapis, several species of monkey, sun-tailed guenon, Dollman’s tree mouse, Remy’s shrew, approximately 1,000 species of birds, gorillas, common chimpanzees, and the world’s only surviving bonobo chimpanzees.
Carbon Storage: The Congo Basin Rainforest is the second largest terrestrial carbon reserve in the world, only bested by the Amazon Basin.
Regulation of Climate and Rainfall Pattern: The vast amounts of water and energy exchanged between tropical forests and the Earth's atmosphere are critical to controlling local, regional, and global climates. Tropical rainforests worldwide help regulate rainfall patterns by recycling moisture through the atmosphere and keeping surface temperatures lower than in non-forested areas.
Non-timber Forest Products: Mushrooms, nuts, leaves, honey, caterpillars, and other agricultural, medicinal and nutritional resources, are largely untapped benefits of the rainforest.
2. Crises in the DRC
Poverty: DRC families produce 42 percent of the food they consume by subsistence farming. Despite being the most resource-rich country in the world, the DRC ranked fifth out of 178 on the 2019 Fund for Peace Fragile States Index, and is currently experiencing the second largest hunger crisis in the world. With the number of food-insecure people almost doubling from 7.7 million in 2017 to 13.1 million in 2018, access to food is a daily struggle for a significant portion of the population, and an estimated 5 million DRC children are acutely malnourished.
3. Current Threats to the Congo Basin Ecosystem
Deforestation by the Poor: Deforestation in the DRC's portion of the Congo Basin is on the rise. In the DRC alone, forest clearing accounts for nearly two-thirds of deforestation across the entire Basin. Small-scale clearing for farming and domestic livestock (not multinational corporations) is the main threat now facing these forests. Clearing in the DRC's portion of the Basin is carried out primarily by market farmers and poverty-stricken families with no other livelihood options. Between 2000 and 2014, annual rates of primary forest clearing for small scale agriculture doubled, mirroring the doubling of population. If the DRC's population growth and primary forest loss continue at the current rate, the DRC’s Congo Basin primary forests may be cleared by 2100.
Threats to the Rainforest from the Rich and Corporations: In the DRC, a 15-year old moratorium on commercial logging has contributed to the preservation of the forest. Despite repeated attempts to violate it, as well as ongoing efforts to lift it, national and international environmental NGOs have maintained continuous pressure on the DRC government to keep moratoriums in place, with success – for the time being. Meanwhile, growing global demand for wood, palm oil, rubber, and other materials lurk as threats to the rainforest through both large-scale agriculture and industrial logging, if the moratorium is lifted. Commercial mining is also a threat.
4. Worldwide Community Forestry: Growing Consensus for Local, Community- based Forest Management
Failure of the 'police conservation' model, and recognition of the devastating impacts of large- scale industry, have recently given rise to a growing understanding of the need for a localized, small-scale, community-centered approach to forest management. It has become recognized that formalization of traditional land tenure systems is the most effective strategy for both protecting forest ecosystems and reducing human poverty. The community-centered approach has measurable, direct positive impacts on the livelihoods of millions of forest-dependent people, and is the most effective means of ensuring that forest ecology and sensitive wildlife habitat remain intact.
5. Local Community Forest Concessions (LCFCs) in the DRC--Federal Law
Since 2016, the DRC’s national institutional and legal system established the Local Community Forest Concession (LCFC) program which offers the unprecedented opportunity for forest dependent people to manage their lands and natural resources according to their own customs and modes of governance, thereby permitting multiple uses which the communities define for themselves.
The national law established a system of concessions for up to 50,000 hectares of land--ten times more than the maximum amount authorized by any other country in the region. A number of local communities and NGOs (including GCE) have engaged in the process of supporting LCFCs in the DRC.
6. Equateur Province and Lake Tumba: A Unique Landscape
As the world’s largest swamp forest, second largest wetland area, and home to the largest Ramsar Freshwater Wetland of International Importance, the Lake Tumba landscape is known for its extraordinary biodiversity. Critical to climate stabilization both locally and globally, some 2 million people depend on this area's rich forests, marshes, savannahs and meadows, seasonally-flooded woodlands and lakes, floating prairies, ponds and rivers, as well as the renowned carbon dense peatlands. Species found in the landscape include many valuable species of primates, including the bonobo chimpanzee, common chimpanzee, Angolan colobus, Allen’s swamp monkey, black mangabey, red-tailed monkey and the Brazza’s monkey. Other species include the forest elephant, forest buffalo, leopard, many species of fish, three types of crocodile, and the hippopotamus.
7. GCE is Positioned for Progress
Since 2012, GCE has been working diligently at the intersection of rainforest conservation, poverty alleviation and the development of sustainable livelihood initiatives in the DRC's Lake Tumba region. Prior to the establishment of the LCFC national law, GCE managed to intercept a sizable logging contract by negotiating with the government to establish a temporary million acre conservation concession that formally recognized the ancestral land rights of the local inhabitants. This paved the way for what is, as of 2016, the most densely allocated LCFC area in Equateur Province. While the temporary agreement was the best possible solution available at the time, the national LCFC program now protects against large-scale deforestation in perpetuity.
8. The Approach of GCE
Building upon a number of challenges and opportunities identified by our team and local community members, GCE is working diligently in developing an ambitious Community Forestry program which aims to conserve rainforests through sustainable forest management while also improving the livelihoods of the people, for current and future generations
Benefits of Land Tenure Security
GCE's work is focused. Local Batwa, Bantu, and Pygmy women and men are encouraged and able to decide, through full community representational consensus, how to best utilize their shared lands in fairly planning for the following:
1) Food production and agricultural practices
2) Potential for carbon offset projects
3) Potential forest areas to be preserved for regeneration of trees
4) Potential forest areas to be set aside for culturally important activities such as hunting, dwellings, and ceremony
5) Tree nurseries for restoration of degraded or deforested areas
6) Special management of areas that serve as habitat for critically endangered species
7) Establishment of fishing or hunting seasons
8) Access to lake, rivers, and wells
9) Access to markets
10) Potential for alternative, forest-friendly income generating activities (e.g., beekeeping, caterpillar, nut, or mushroom collection, cacao cultivation, and similar activities
Through these participatory and inclusive processes, LCFCs can generate countless benefits to the preservation of natural and cultural resources. Over time, it is expected that these local conservation trends will be integrated within wider land use planning, as governmental authorities coordinate local initiatives, thereby ensuring consistency within the wider landscape, and ultimately making possible a Congo Basin Rainforest that not only remains standing, but vital and thriving.
Conservation Heritage—Turambe
We gave a grant to Conservation Heritage—Turambe, an organization in Rwanda dedicated to saving Mountain Gorillas and their cloud forest habitat by helping the local people living near the gorillas. This organization works with the Houston Zoo, which is also involved in preserving Mountain Gorillas and their habitat in Rwanda. Conservation Heritage—Turambe educates the children about the value of and need for conservation of gorillas, and teaches them hygiene and health practices. These are crucial to preserving gorillas, since many die from catching diseases from humans. Their altruistic work to help people in the area wins their support in Conservation Heritage—Turambe’s work to save gorilla habitat. This is crucial, because the Mountain Gorilla and its cloud forest habitat cannot be preserved without the support of the local people. The grant also helped educate future conservation leaders near the gorilla habitat. This grant was extremely successful in saving gorillas and their cloud forest, and helping the people, especially the children, living near them. In fact, it was successful beyond our dreams. The director of the program at Conservation Heritage–Turambe wrote the World Rainforest Fund explaining that they could not have succeeded in their goals for Mountain Gorilla conservation without the grant we provided.
Learn more about Conservation Heritage—Turambe for Gorillas at: https://www.chtforgorillas.org/
Learn more about Go Conscious Earth at: www.gcearth.org
The Congo Basin rainforest is the second largest in the world, second only to the Amazon Basin. It has among the most species of animals and plants of any ecosystem on Earth. It has some of Earth’s most unique and valuable species, including the rare Bonobo Chimpanzee. This is our closest living relative; we have 98.7% of our genes in common with it! It is peaceful, highly intelligent, and empathic. Unlike common chimpanzees and humans, bonobos never settle disputes through violence or fighting. They live only in the Congo Basin, and if this rainforest is destroyed, they will be lost forever. They are endangered from poaching and destruction of their rainforest home.
This rainforest is also home to the endangered African Forest Elephant, the smallest of the Earth’s three species of elephants, and the only one that lives most of its life in the forest. Due to a slower birth rate than other elephant species, the forest elephant takes longer to recover from poaching, which caused its population to fall by 65% from 2002 to 2014. It lives in the greater Congo Basin, so loss of this forest will not send it entirely extinct, but will remove much of its prime habitat, tremendously reduce its numbers, and greatly decrease its odds of survival.
This forest is home to the unique Pygmy people and other indigenous people who depend on it for their survival. This rainforest has been found to be particularly good at removing the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere, so is a key to helping stop human-induced global climate change.
The Congo Basin rainforest contains a large freshwater lake, Lake Tumba, which is generally 295 square miles, although its size varies seasonally. It is connected to the Congo River. Lake Tumba has 114 species of fish and supports important fisheries. The lake lies at the center of the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention in 2008. It has large areas of wetlands with high species diversity. Lake Tumba is home to over 100,000 indigenous people. All of the people living there are without adequate food, clean water, healthcare, education, electricity, and transportation. In their efforts to survive and feed their families, they have been forced to use unsustainable farming and fishing techniques that harm the rainforest and the lake. They want to preserve their homeland, but they need more resources to be able to implement viable alternatives.
GCE is headed by Godi Godar, eldest son of the chief of the Bantomba tribe. As a result of his lineage, he has strong generational ties to the communities in the area, and high credibility and close relationships with the community, local and indigenous peoples, and the DRC government. In 2014, he secured an important agreement between his village and neighboring villages, and the DRC government. The DRC government signed an agreement to preserve one million acres of rainforest and wetlands, and not allow corporate and foreign exploiters to come in and destroy the rainforest or the lake. In return, GCE must provide for the needs of the people in this entire million acres of rainforest. If this is not accomplished within a few years, the DRC will open the rainforest and lake to exploitation and destruction. If GCE can provide for the local people in this time frame, the DRC government will permanently preserve the rainforest and lake. This agreement was signed by the DRC Ministry of the Environment and the local indigenous communities, including the Bantomba and Pygmy people. It is legally supported by the new federal law guaranteeing tribal land rights and rainforest protection. Godi Godar brought the local communities together for a series of meetings to define the needs of each community and re-establish control over their forest homeland, with the attendance and support of the Ministry of Environment of the DRC government.
GCE has established an integrated protection plan for the rainforest and lake, including long-term plans for regional economic and community development. GCE realizes that rainforest conservation, endangered animal protection, and economic and community development are inextricably linked.
Most of the local and indigenous people do not have access to clean water. This is the biggest need of the people, and most important action item to keep GCE’s part of the agreement with the DRC government, and to win the crucially-needed support of the local people for conservation of the rainforest. Most people draw their water from Lake Tumba, which is contaminated because of the lack of sanitation in the surrounding villages. The only wells that exist there are wells that are excavated by hand shovel and tend to run dry. In February of 2016, GCE built five community water wells in five villages around Lake Tumba, providing the only source of clean water to 10,000 people. They also provided technology that allows the villagers, with the help of GCE, to build hundreds of wells at a fraction of the cost of traditional well-building for the region.
GCE has developed and implemented anti-poaching and conservation initiatives. The former are important because of poaching for the bush meat of elephants, bonobos, and other wildlife. They are helping restore the ecology of Lake Tumba, which suffers from pollution.
GCE is an all-volunteer organization. Through the end of 2015, GCE’s operational costs were less than 7% of the total revenues for the year.
Part of its approach is to help the DRC government fulfill its constitutional promise to make rainforest conservation and anti-poverty initiatives a reality in what are some of the poorest areas in the world. It raises awareness about rainforest destruction. GCE is securing the tribal land rights for the indigenous people living in the area. GCE also helped the local villages form Tribal Councils, which monitor and safeguard the wells, and implement GCE initiatives for the villages they represent.
It is committed to building community health centers, schools, and women's and maternity centers; aiding in sustainable long-term farming and fishing initiatives; helping build forest ranger programs to end illegal logging and protect the endangered animals living in the region; and building centers for women’s income generation. Empowering women to earn more income generally results in them having less children. This alleviates the over-population problem, which is one of the major causes of environmental destruction.
GCE is working with neighboring tribes and the DRC government to establish additional areas of protected rainforest. Because of GCE’s success, it has been approached by villages in neighboring areas to help protect their rainforest homeland and support their communities. In fact, it is already beginning the process of conserving an adjacent one million acres of rainforest. GCE is working with the communities in this rainforest to create and implement projects that the communities decide are necessary for their health, survival, and well-being.
Logging, commercial farming, and poaching are all still taking their toll on the region. In addition to cutting down parts of the rainforest, logging roads in the Congo rainforest also open up vast areas to commercial hunting of wildlife, including Bonobo Chimps and monkeys. Go Conscious Earth is needed more than ever to stop these destructive practices.
GCE works to save the Congo Basin Rainforest, the world’s second largest rainforest, one of the most biodiverse, and one of the greatest removers of the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, on Earth. It partners with forest-dependent communities to protect the Congo Basin Rainforest, improve the livelihood of the people, and support global climate stability. GCE negotiated a signed agreement with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in which the government agreed to protect millions of acres of rainforest as parks run by the local, indigenous people in the Congo Basin Rainforest. In return, CGE agreed to drill wells for the local and indigenous people, so they could have a clean water supply. Lake Tumba, a large local lake there, is polluted, and clean water in the area is in very short supply. GCE further agreed to build schools and develop sustainable agriculture for the people. The World Rainforest Fund has helped save millions of acres of Congo Basin Rainforest by supporting GCE in its projects. The Congo government has kept its word and protected the rainforest. GCE and the Congo government set up reserves administered by local and indigenous people, assuring lasting preservation, because the reserves have the support of the local people, as well as the federal government, which also recognizes the reserves as protected areas.
GCE’s projects are located in the Lake Tumba region of Equateur Province, in the DRC. As the world’s largest swamp forest, second largest wetland area, and home to the largest Ramsar Freshwater Wetland of International Importance, the Lake Tumba landscape is known for its extraordinary biodiversity. Two million people depend on this area's rich forests, marshes, savannahs and meadows, seasonally-flooded woodlands and lakes, floating prairies, ponds and rivers - as well as the renowned carbon dense peatlands.
The Congo Basin Rainforest is the second largest carbon reserve in the world, storing carbon in trees, keeping the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, out of the atmosphere, and thus countering the effects of human-induced climate change. The DRC's above-ground forests store 24 billion tons of carbon locked in its vegetation. This would actually amount to 88 billion tons of carbon released into the atmosphere if the forests are cut or destroyed. Carbon stored in the DRC's portion of the Basin exists in a matrix of both living, above-ground forest vegetation and partially decomposed below ground vegetable matter, in the form of peat. Peatlands are intensely carbon-rich areas that cover a mere three percent of the Earth’s surface, yet store one-third of the world’s soil carbon. The DRC contains over half of the world’s below-round carbon stock, stored in the vitally important Cuvette Central Peatland Complex. Cuvette stores 30 percent of the world's tropical carbon, and has soil stocks equivalent to the above-ground vegetation of the entire Congo Basin Rainforest, spanning six African nations. Cuvette stores 33 billion tons of carbon, an amount equal to 20 years of U.S. fossil fuel emissions! The long-term maintenance of these carbon-storing forests and peat bogs is essential to global climate stability and mitigation of excess carbon emissions caused by humans.
Mission of Go Conscious Earth
GCE was founded by Godi Godar, who has connections to both local and indigenous people and government officials. He has dedicated his life to preserving the rainforest of the Congo Basin and Lake Tumba, and helping the poor, indigenous people there.
Expanding Community Forestry Concessions
Last year, GCE went to the Lokongo region of the DRC to begin surveying, mapping, and collecting information in four communities South of Lake Tumba. These communities have urgently requested GCE’s support in establishing their Community Forestry Concessions. GCE is excited to take this step in the process of establishing long-term protections in such a highly bio-diverse, important region, a task that it said it could not do without the support of the World Rainforest Fund. The staff of GCE stated that they are extremely grateful for grants from the World Rainforest Fund that are helping to make their work possible.
Well Installations
Using grants from the World rainforest Fund and others, GCE ended 2019 with Godi Godar's successful trip to Lake Tumba to complete the installation of six wells in the villages of: Bokonga, Bokaka Mboboko, Negelo Monzoi, Olo, and Ikoko Bonginda. GCE has now built a total of 17 wells, serving approximately 34,000 people with clean water!
GCE Action Summary 2020-2023
With strong ties to the local community and government, GCE was able to secure a temporary agreement with the DRC federal government which protected one million acres of land surrounding indigenous and local villages. In exchange, GCE promised to work with the people to create sustainable development initiatives such as their clean water program, which has provided drinkable well water to thousands. GCE’s accomplishments thus far have not only protected the health of the rainforest, wildlife, and people, but have also proven the success of community-based conservation and anti-poverty initiatives to the DRC government. GCE is now positioned for even greater progress, as it continues working closely with communities to implement the DRC's unprecedented national Local Community Forestry Concessions (LCFCs) land-rights law (2016), which ensure forest-dependent rights of local communities to their customary and ancestral lands in perpetuity. Under the new law guaranteeing these rights, GCE will continue, as it has from its beginnings, to work diligently at the intersection of rainforest conservation, poverty alleviation, and the development of sustainable livelihood initiatives. A community-centered approach to rainforest conservation has always been at the heart of its mission. It is well situated for continued success.
Implementing a Sustainable Approach to Rainforest Conservation: Supporting Community Forestry in the DRC
1. The Congo Basin Rainforest: A Unique Ecosystem
The Congo River is Earth's second largest river by volume, draining an area almost half the size of the continental US, called the Congo Basin Rainforest. The second-largest contiguous tract of tropical rainforest in the world, the Basin consists of rich, biodiverse rainforests and swamps which span the six central African nations of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the DRC. The DRC boasts more than 60% of the total Basin and Central Africa's lowland forest cover. It is estimated that 75 million people and 150 distinct ethnic groups depend on this rainforest for food, wood, subsistence agriculture, fish, regulation of local climate and water flows, soil protection and enrichment, and other services from nature. Many of these communities practice a traditional hunter-gatherer way of life.
Biodeviersity: Home to many species of endangered wildlife, the Basin provides habitat to about half of the remaining elephants in Africa, okapis, several species of monkey, sun-tailed guenon, Dollman’s tree mouse, Remy’s shrew, approximately 1,000 species of birds, gorillas, common chimpanzees, and the world’s only surviving bonobo chimpanzees.
Carbon Storage: The Congo Basin Rainforest is the second largest terrestrial carbon reserve in the world, only bested by the Amazon Basin.
Regulation of Climate and Rainfall Pattern: The vast amounts of water and energy exchanged between tropical forests and the Earth's atmosphere are critical to controlling local, regional, and global climates. Tropical rainforests worldwide help regulate rainfall patterns by recycling moisture through the atmosphere and keeping surface temperatures lower than in non-forested areas.
Non-timber Forest Products: Mushrooms, nuts, leaves, honey, caterpillars, and other agricultural, medicinal and nutritional resources, are largely untapped benefits of the rainforest.
2. Crises in the DRC
Poverty: DRC families produce 42 percent of the food they consume by subsistence farming. Despite being the most resource-rich country in the world, the DRC ranked fifth out of 178 on the 2019 Fund for Peace Fragile States Index, and is currently experiencing the second largest hunger crisis in the world. With the number of food-insecure people almost doubling from 7.7 million in 2017 to 13.1 million in 2018, access to food is a daily struggle for a significant portion of the population, and an estimated 5 million DRC children are acutely malnourished.
3. Current Threats to the Congo Basin Ecosystem
Deforestation by the Poor: Deforestation in the DRC's portion of the Congo Basin is on the rise. In the DRC alone, forest clearing accounts for nearly two-thirds of deforestation across the entire Basin. Small-scale clearing for farming and domestic livestock (not multinational corporations) is the main threat now facing these forests. Clearing in the DRC's portion of the Basin is carried out primarily by market farmers and poverty-stricken families with no other livelihood options. Between 2000 and 2014, annual rates of primary forest clearing for small scale agriculture doubled, mirroring the doubling of population. If the DRC's population growth and primary forest loss continue at the current rate, the DRC’s Congo Basin primary forests may be cleared by 2100.
Threats to the Rainforest from the Rich and Corporations: In the DRC, a 15-year old moratorium on commercial logging has contributed to the preservation of the forest. Despite repeated attempts to violate it, as well as ongoing efforts to lift it, national and international environmental NGOs have maintained continuous pressure on the DRC government to keep moratoriums in place, with success – for the time being. Meanwhile, growing global demand for wood, palm oil, rubber, and other materials lurk as threats to the rainforest through both large-scale agriculture and industrial logging, if the moratorium is lifted. Commercial mining is also a threat.
4. Worldwide Community Forestry: Growing Consensus for Local, Community- based Forest Management
Failure of the 'police conservation' model, and recognition of the devastating impacts of large- scale industry, have recently given rise to a growing understanding of the need for a localized, small-scale, community-centered approach to forest management. It has become recognized that formalization of traditional land tenure systems is the most effective strategy for both protecting forest ecosystems and reducing human poverty. The community-centered approach has measurable, direct positive impacts on the livelihoods of millions of forest-dependent people, and is the most effective means of ensuring that forest ecology and sensitive wildlife habitat remain intact.
5. Local Community Forest Concessions (LCFCs) in the DRC--Federal Law
Since 2016, the DRC’s national institutional and legal system established the Local Community Forest Concession (LCFC) program which offers the unprecedented opportunity for forest dependent people to manage their lands and natural resources according to their own customs and modes of governance, thereby permitting multiple uses which the communities define for themselves.
The national law established a system of concessions for up to 50,000 hectares of land--ten times more than the maximum amount authorized by any other country in the region. A number of local communities and NGOs (including GCE) have engaged in the process of supporting LCFCs in the DRC.
6. Equateur Province and Lake Tumba: A Unique Landscape
As the world’s largest swamp forest, second largest wetland area, and home to the largest Ramsar Freshwater Wetland of International Importance, the Lake Tumba landscape is known for its extraordinary biodiversity. Critical to climate stabilization both locally and globally, some 2 million people depend on this area's rich forests, marshes, savannahs and meadows, seasonally-flooded woodlands and lakes, floating prairies, ponds and rivers, as well as the renowned carbon dense peatlands. Species found in the landscape include many valuable species of primates, including the bonobo chimpanzee, common chimpanzee, Angolan colobus, Allen’s swamp monkey, black mangabey, red-tailed monkey and the Brazza’s monkey. Other species include the forest elephant, forest buffalo, leopard, many species of fish, three types of crocodile, and the hippopotamus.
7. GCE is Positioned for Progress
Since 2012, GCE has been working diligently at the intersection of rainforest conservation, poverty alleviation and the development of sustainable livelihood initiatives in the DRC's Lake Tumba region. Prior to the establishment of the LCFC national law, GCE managed to intercept a sizable logging contract by negotiating with the government to establish a temporary million acre conservation concession that formally recognized the ancestral land rights of the local inhabitants. This paved the way for what is, as of 2016, the most densely allocated LCFC area in Equateur Province. While the temporary agreement was the best possible solution available at the time, the national LCFC program now protects against large-scale deforestation in perpetuity.
8. The Approach of GCE
Building upon a number of challenges and opportunities identified by our team and local community members, GCE is working diligently in developing an ambitious Community Forestry program which aims to conserve rainforests through sustainable forest management while also improving the livelihoods of the people, for current and future generations
Benefits of Land Tenure Security
GCE's work is focused. Local Batwa, Bantu, and Pygmy women and men are encouraged and able to decide, through full community representational consensus, how to best utilize their shared lands in fairly planning for the following:
1) Food production and agricultural practices
2) Potential for carbon offset projects
3) Potential forest areas to be preserved for regeneration of trees
4) Potential forest areas to be set aside for culturally important activities such as hunting, dwellings, and ceremony
5) Tree nurseries for restoration of degraded or deforested areas
6) Special management of areas that serve as habitat for critically endangered species
7) Establishment of fishing or hunting seasons
8) Access to lake, rivers, and wells
9) Access to markets
10) Potential for alternative, forest-friendly income generating activities (e.g., beekeeping, caterpillar, nut, or mushroom collection, cacao cultivation, and similar activities
Through these participatory and inclusive processes, LCFCs can generate countless benefits to the preservation of natural and cultural resources. Over time, it is expected that these local conservation trends will be integrated within wider land use planning, as governmental authorities coordinate local initiatives, thereby ensuring consistency within the wider landscape, and ultimately making possible a Congo Basin Rainforest that not only remains standing, but vital and thriving.
Conservation Heritage—Turambe
We gave a grant to Conservation Heritage—Turambe, an organization in Rwanda dedicated to saving Mountain Gorillas and their cloud forest habitat by helping the local people living near the gorillas. This organization works with the Houston Zoo, which is also involved in preserving Mountain Gorillas and their habitat in Rwanda. Conservation Heritage—Turambe educates the children about the value of and need for conservation of gorillas, and teaches them hygiene and health practices. These are crucial to preserving gorillas, since many die from catching diseases from humans. Their altruistic work to help people in the area wins their support in Conservation Heritage—Turambe’s work to save gorilla habitat. This is crucial, because the Mountain Gorilla and its cloud forest habitat cannot be preserved without the support of the local people. The grant also helped educate future conservation leaders near the gorilla habitat. This grant was extremely successful in saving gorillas and their cloud forest, and helping the people, especially the children, living near them. In fact, it was successful beyond our dreams. The director of the program at Conservation Heritage–Turambe wrote the World Rainforest Fund explaining that they could not have succeeded in their goals for Mountain Gorilla conservation without the grant we provided.
Learn more about Conservation Heritage—Turambe for Gorillas at: https://www.chtforgorillas.org/
Learn more about Go Conscious Earth at: www.gcearth.org
International Rivers
We supported International Rivers’ work to protect the Marañón River in Peru. International Rivers is one of the most effective organizations working to protect rivers from dams.
Twenty-two megadams that would have flooded and permanently destroyed large forested areas in Peru were planned by the government. With our grant and additional funds, International Rivers was able to continue campaigning, to stop Chadin 2 Dam on the Marañón, and to support communities and legal actions. As of now, all 22 dams have been stopped! The exposure of corruption implicating Brazilian companies and Peruvian government officials in the Chadin 2 dam helped with these victories. Together, International Rivers, the World Rainforest Fund, and other allies won a tremendous set of victories. To paraphrase Ms. Aguirre, principal campaigner on this project, the World Rainforest Fund grant was essential for helping to cross a threshold to enable them to protect the forests that the dams would have destroyed. The dams would have flooded and destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of tropical dry forest and tropical rainforest. Farmers would have lost their crops permanently. Climate change would have been greatly exacerbated by the loss of this large carbon sink, and the addition to the release of the powerful greenhouse gas methane when the trees decomposed under water.
The dense and roadless rainforests and dry forests of the Marañón River Basin, where many of the 22 dams were planned and stopped, are recognized as being among the most biodiverse regions on Earth. The Marañón River and its tributaries provide habitat for many species, including monkeys; jaguars; interesting bats; squirrels; amazing birds, including condors and parrots, such as the yellow-eared parrot; white caimans (caimans are related to alligators); black caimans; gorgeous frogs; beautiful butterflies, including up to 21 species that have not yet been described and classified by scientists; spectacular tree species, including wax palms; and beautiful orchids, including 26 newly-discovered species. It has many endangered species and many found nowhere else. The region has 64 rare bird species, with 26 of these found only in Peru. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, one of the largest in Peru, is located between the Marañón and Ucayali rivers. Animal and plant life is abundant and extremely varied in the reserve. The reserve's waters are home to gray and pink dolphins, Amazonian manatees, giant river otters, black caimans, and giant South American river turtles. Land species include jaguars, and capuchin and spider monkeys. The Black Spider Monkey, orange-chested spider monkey, woolly monkey, and howler monkey are all endangered. Stopping the dams saved all of these animals and plants.
The river is a tributary of the Amazon River. Almost 14% of the Peruvian population, hundreds of thousands of people, depend on the river to survive. They include indigenous Amazon peoples, Andean peasants, and urban communities. These people and communities were saved by stopping the dams.
Chadin 2 dam on the Marañón would have created a reservoir of 142 Km2 or 54.82 square miles flooding an ecosystem known as the seasonally dry forests of the Marañón, which has one of the highest levels of endemism in Peru. If the Chadín 2 and Veracruz projects are carried out, these would generate serious environmental impacts, many of them irreversible. They would obstruct fish migration and nutrient transport, thereby impairing food supply, spawning, and biota refuge in the river.By affecting the migration routes for fish species, they would impact indigenous territories such as the Awajún and the Wampis, as well as communities that live in the lower areas of the river and the Amazon basin.
The World Rainforest Fund grant, together with grants from other funding organizations, funded campaigns to stop the construction of the Chadin 2 dam. The dam builders do not have a license for now. Stopping this dam was very important, and has increased awareness in Peru about the destructiveness of dams, in the populace, government politicians, and Brazilian investors and companies. Because of this increased awareness, 24 more dams planned on the same river are stopped for now, and hopefully will be stopped forever.
Three more dams are planned in Ecuador on the Santiago River, a tributary of the Marañón originating in Ecuador’s Córdillera del Cóndor. The Córdillera is also threatened by large mining projects. The rainforests of the Santiago River basin in Ecuador are also roadless and recognized as among the most biodiverse regions in the world. The World Rainforest Fund is considering a future grant to protect the Coórdillera and the Santiago River Basin.
We supported International Rivers’ work to protect the Marañón River in Peru. International Rivers is one of the most effective organizations working to protect rivers from dams.
Twenty-two megadams that would have flooded and permanently destroyed large forested areas in Peru were planned by the government. With our grant and additional funds, International Rivers was able to continue campaigning, to stop Chadin 2 Dam on the Marañón, and to support communities and legal actions. As of now, all 22 dams have been stopped! The exposure of corruption implicating Brazilian companies and Peruvian government officials in the Chadin 2 dam helped with these victories. Together, International Rivers, the World Rainforest Fund, and other allies won a tremendous set of victories. To paraphrase Ms. Aguirre, principal campaigner on this project, the World Rainforest Fund grant was essential for helping to cross a threshold to enable them to protect the forests that the dams would have destroyed. The dams would have flooded and destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of tropical dry forest and tropical rainforest. Farmers would have lost their crops permanently. Climate change would have been greatly exacerbated by the loss of this large carbon sink, and the addition to the release of the powerful greenhouse gas methane when the trees decomposed under water.
The dense and roadless rainforests and dry forests of the Marañón River Basin, where many of the 22 dams were planned and stopped, are recognized as being among the most biodiverse regions on Earth. The Marañón River and its tributaries provide habitat for many species, including monkeys; jaguars; interesting bats; squirrels; amazing birds, including condors and parrots, such as the yellow-eared parrot; white caimans (caimans are related to alligators); black caimans; gorgeous frogs; beautiful butterflies, including up to 21 species that have not yet been described and classified by scientists; spectacular tree species, including wax palms; and beautiful orchids, including 26 newly-discovered species. It has many endangered species and many found nowhere else. The region has 64 rare bird species, with 26 of these found only in Peru. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, one of the largest in Peru, is located between the Marañón and Ucayali rivers. Animal and plant life is abundant and extremely varied in the reserve. The reserve's waters are home to gray and pink dolphins, Amazonian manatees, giant river otters, black caimans, and giant South American river turtles. Land species include jaguars, and capuchin and spider monkeys. The Black Spider Monkey, orange-chested spider monkey, woolly monkey, and howler monkey are all endangered. Stopping the dams saved all of these animals and plants.
The river is a tributary of the Amazon River. Almost 14% of the Peruvian population, hundreds of thousands of people, depend on the river to survive. They include indigenous Amazon peoples, Andean peasants, and urban communities. These people and communities were saved by stopping the dams.
Chadin 2 dam on the Marañón would have created a reservoir of 142 Km2 or 54.82 square miles flooding an ecosystem known as the seasonally dry forests of the Marañón, which has one of the highest levels of endemism in Peru. If the Chadín 2 and Veracruz projects are carried out, these would generate serious environmental impacts, many of them irreversible. They would obstruct fish migration and nutrient transport, thereby impairing food supply, spawning, and biota refuge in the river.By affecting the migration routes for fish species, they would impact indigenous territories such as the Awajún and the Wampis, as well as communities that live in the lower areas of the river and the Amazon basin.
The World Rainforest Fund grant, together with grants from other funding organizations, funded campaigns to stop the construction of the Chadin 2 dam. The dam builders do not have a license for now. Stopping this dam was very important, and has increased awareness in Peru about the destructiveness of dams, in the populace, government politicians, and Brazilian investors and companies. Because of this increased awareness, 24 more dams planned onthe same river are stopped for now, and hopefully will be stopped forever.
Three more dams are planned in Ecuador on the Santiago River, a tributary of the Marañón originating in Ecuador’s Córdillera del Cóndor. The Córdillera is also threatened by large mining projects. The rainforests of the Santiago River basin in Ecuador are also roadless and recognized as among the most biodiverse regions in the world. The World Rainforest Fund is considering a future grant to protect the Coórdillera and the Santiago River Basin.
The basins of the Marañón and the Santiago are inhabited by the Awajún and Wampís indigenous peoples in Peru, and the Shuar and Achuar indigenous peoples in Ecuador, among others. These peoples have created an impressive track record of collectively effectively managing their critical ecosystems. They have established internal rules and regulations for forest utilization, hunting, fishing, and the use of non-timber resources. The Marañón and its numerous tributaries are the lifeline of the Andean Amazon rainforest. The region’s biodiversity and the indigenous systems of sustainably managing ecosystems are at great risk from dam building.
International Riverse (IR) is supporting the Wampis and Awajun indigenous peoples in their efforts to create Autonomous Territorial Governments that will give them self-determination within a State Government. This is challenging, but is what indigenous groups see as a way to protect their rainforests. In the case of the Wampis, this is 11 million hectares or rainforest. IR also supported and is supporting the Wampis on a project to identify the contribution of their rainforest in climate stability.
They are also working with national groups to create a Healthy and Free Flowing Rivers Law in Peru. The idea is to create a law that permanently and legally protects rivers or sections of river with certain values and attributes, much similar to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in the USA. IR is working with a coalition of indigenous groups, NGOs, religious groups, academics, and others to develop this work. IR has supported several studies, one is a social diagnostic aimed to have grassroots voices and support. IR has also supported the development o the principles to guide the writing of the law based on the analysis of water, forest, and indigenous, national laws and policies. They are developing a communications campaign based on scientific studies and local knowledge on the importance of rivers. The campaign will speak of rivers and forests and their strong relationship, as trees are made up of more than 50 percent water and need a steady source of it in order to grow and stay healthy.
IR’s strategy is to work with indigenous peoples to protect their rivers, their self-management systems, and the ecosystems that they sustain. They do so by supporting indigenous communities in developing long-term strategies, systematically collecting data, raising international awareness about the issues at stake in conflicts over rivers and dams, targeting dam builders from Brazil to China, taking up legal cases, and advocating for the permanent legal protection of their rivers.
In late April 2011, former Peruvian President Alan Garcia declared that the construction of 20 dams on the Marañón River was “in the national interest.” Some of the planned dam projects would involve a system of water transfers and irrigation in arid coastal areas. Others are planned to generate electricity to fuel the expansion of mining interests in the Andes, and could be used to export electricity to Brazil.
Eighteen of these proposed dams would be located in sensitive ecosystems such as cloud forests and equatorial seasonally dry forest areas. These dams would severely impact the unique ecosystems in these areas. The dams would flood the lands of indigenous Awajun and Wampi communities, who depend on the river and forest resources. Many are farmers who cultivate cacao, plantain, corn, peanuts, and manioc. Their agricultural livelihoods along with fishing in the area would be severely impacted by the proposed projects. Communities would be resettled in unproductive lands or in overcrowded urban centers that lack jobs and basic services.
Grants in the near future from the World Rainforest Fund hope achieve the following goals:
• Obtain territorial land rights for the Wampís, Awajún, and Kunkama indigenous peoples. This will include land demarcation, marking boundaries, mapping, restricting entrance, and stopping oil exploration and exploitation. This would protect nine million hectares. A large portion of this is rainforest.
• Catalyze the establishment of autonomous territories that are protected with their own bylaws, recognized as protected by the government of Peru. Obtain the passage of a national law in Peru similar to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Law in the US that permanently protects Peru’s wild rivers.
Long-term goals of IR:
• The dam projects proposed to be built on the Marañón and Santiago rivers are stopped.
• The rights of the Shuar, Achuar, Wampís, and Awajun peoples are respected over their territories, and large tracks of rainforest are protected.
• The indigenous peoples have the opportunity to learn about other good practices in protecting and managing their territories.
• The Marañón and Santiago rivers will be permanently protected.
For further information, please contact Monti Aguirre, Latin America Coordinator, [email protected]
Learn more about International Rivers at: https://www.internationalrivers.org/
Twenty-two megadams that would have flooded and permanently destroyed large forested areas in Peru were planned by the government. With our grant and additional funds, International Rivers was able to continue campaigning, to stop Chadin 2 Dam on the Marañón, and to support communities and legal actions. As of now, all 22 dams have been stopped! The exposure of corruption implicating Brazilian companies and Peruvian government officials in the Chadin 2 dam helped with these victories. Together, International Rivers, the World Rainforest Fund, and other allies won a tremendous set of victories. To paraphrase Ms. Aguirre, principal campaigner on this project, the World Rainforest Fund grant was essential for helping to cross a threshold to enable them to protect the forests that the dams would have destroyed. The dams would have flooded and destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of tropical dry forest and tropical rainforest. Farmers would have lost their crops permanently. Climate change would have been greatly exacerbated by the loss of this large carbon sink, and the addition to the release of the powerful greenhouse gas methane when the trees decomposed under water.
The dense and roadless rainforests and dry forests of the Marañón River Basin, where many of the 22 dams were planned and stopped, are recognized as being among the most biodiverse regions on Earth. The Marañón River and its tributaries provide habitat for many species, including monkeys; jaguars; interesting bats; squirrels; amazing birds, including condors and parrots, such as the yellow-eared parrot; white caimans (caimans are related to alligators); black caimans; gorgeous frogs; beautiful butterflies, including up to 21 species that have not yet been described and classified by scientists; spectacular tree species, including wax palms; and beautiful orchids, including 26 newly-discovered species. It has many endangered species and many found nowhere else. The region has 64 rare bird species, with 26 of these found only in Peru. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, one of the largest in Peru, is located between the Marañón and Ucayali rivers. Animal and plant life is abundant and extremely varied in the reserve. The reserve's waters are home to gray and pink dolphins, Amazonian manatees, giant river otters, black caimans, and giant South American river turtles. Land species include jaguars, and capuchin and spider monkeys. The Black Spider Monkey, orange-chested spider monkey, woolly monkey, and howler monkey are all endangered. Stopping the dams saved all of these animals and plants.
The river is a tributary of the Amazon River. Almost 14% of the Peruvian population, hundreds of thousands of people, depend on the river to survive. They include indigenous Amazon peoples, Andean peasants, and urban communities. These people and communities were saved by stopping the dams.
Chadin 2 dam on the Marañón would have created a reservoir of 142 Km2 or 54.82 square miles flooding an ecosystem known as the seasonally dry forests of the Marañón, which has one of the highest levels of endemism in Peru. If the Chadín 2 and Veracruz projects are carried out, these would generate serious environmental impacts, many of them irreversible. They would obstruct fish migration and nutrient transport, thereby impairing food supply, spawning, and biota refuge in the river.By affecting the migration routes for fish species, they would impact indigenous territories such as the Awajún and the Wampis, as well as communities that live in the lower areas of the river and the Amazon basin.
The World Rainforest Fund grant, together with grants from other funding organizations, funded campaigns to stop the construction of the Chadin 2 dam. The dam builders do not have a license for now. Stopping this dam was very important, and has increased awareness in Peru about the destructiveness of dams, in the populace, government politicians, and Brazilian investors and companies. Because of this increased awareness, 24 more dams planned on the same river are stopped for now, and hopefully will be stopped forever.
Three more dams are planned in Ecuador on the Santiago River, a tributary of the Marañón originating in Ecuador’s Córdillera del Cóndor. The Córdillera is also threatened by large mining projects. The rainforests of the Santiago River basin in Ecuador are also roadless and recognized as among the most biodiverse regions in the world. The World Rainforest Fund is considering a future grant to protect the Coórdillera and the Santiago River Basin.
We supported International Rivers’ work to protect the Marañón River in Peru. International Rivers is one of the most effective organizations working to protect rivers from dams.
Twenty-two megadams that would have flooded and permanently destroyed large forested areas in Peru were planned by the government. With our grant and additional funds, International Rivers was able to continue campaigning, to stop Chadin 2 Dam on the Marañón, and to support communities and legal actions. As of now, all 22 dams have been stopped! The exposure of corruption implicating Brazilian companies and Peruvian government officials in the Chadin 2 dam helped with these victories. Together, International Rivers, the World Rainforest Fund, and other allies won a tremendous set of victories. To paraphrase Ms. Aguirre, principal campaigner on this project, the World Rainforest Fund grant was essential for helping to cross a threshold to enable them to protect the forests that the dams would have destroyed. The dams would have flooded and destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of tropical dry forest and tropical rainforest. Farmers would have lost their crops permanently. Climate change would have been greatly exacerbated by the loss of this large carbon sink, and the addition to the release of the powerful greenhouse gas methane when the trees decomposed under water.
The dense and roadless rainforests and dry forests of the Marañón River Basin, where many of the 22 dams were planned and stopped, are recognized as being among the most biodiverse regions on Earth. The Marañón River and its tributaries provide habitat for many species, including monkeys; jaguars; interesting bats; squirrels; amazing birds, including condors and parrots, such as the yellow-eared parrot; white caimans (caimans are related to alligators); black caimans; gorgeous frogs; beautiful butterflies, including up to 21 species that have not yet been described and classified by scientists; spectacular tree species, including wax palms; and beautiful orchids, including 26 newly-discovered species. It has many endangered species and many found nowhere else. The region has 64 rare bird species, with 26 of these found only in Peru. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, one of the largest in Peru, is located between the Marañón and Ucayali rivers. Animal and plant life is abundant and extremely varied in the reserve. The reserve's waters are home to gray and pink dolphins, Amazonian manatees, giant river otters, black caimans, and giant South American river turtles. Land species include jaguars, and capuchin and spider monkeys. The Black Spider Monkey, orange-chested spider monkey, woolly monkey, and howler monkey are all endangered. Stopping the dams saved all of these animals and plants.
The river is a tributary of the Amazon River. Almost 14% of the Peruvian population, hundreds of thousands of people, depend on the river to survive. They include indigenous Amazon peoples, Andean peasants, and urban communities. These people and communities were saved by stopping the dams.
Chadin 2 dam on the Marañón would have created a reservoir of 142 Km2 or 54.82 square miles flooding an ecosystem known as the seasonally dry forests of the Marañón, which has one of the highest levels of endemism in Peru. If the Chadín 2 and Veracruz projects are carried out, these would generate serious environmental impacts, many of them irreversible. They would obstruct fish migration and nutrient transport, thereby impairing food supply, spawning, and biota refuge in the river.By affecting the migration routes for fish species, they would impact indigenous territories such as the Awajún and the Wampis, as well as communities that live in the lower areas of the river and the Amazon basin.
The World Rainforest Fund grant, together with grants from other funding organizations, funded campaigns to stop the construction of the Chadin 2 dam. The dam builders do not have a license for now. Stopping this dam was very important, and has increased awareness in Peru about the destructiveness of dams, in the populace, government politicians, and Brazilian investors and companies. Because of this increased awareness, 24 more dams planned onthe same river are stopped for now, and hopefully will be stopped forever.
Three more dams are planned in Ecuador on the Santiago River, a tributary of the Marañón originating in Ecuador’s Córdillera del Cóndor. The Córdillera is also threatened by large mining projects. The rainforests of the Santiago River basin in Ecuador are also roadless and recognized as among the most biodiverse regions in the world. The World Rainforest Fund is considering a future grant to protect the Coórdillera and the Santiago River Basin.
The basins of the Marañón and the Santiago are inhabited by the Awajún and Wampís indigenous peoples in Peru, and the Shuar and Achuar indigenous peoples in Ecuador, among others. These peoples have created an impressive track record of collectively effectively managing their critical ecosystems. They have established internal rules and regulations for forest utilization, hunting, fishing, and the use of non-timber resources. The Marañón and its numerous tributaries are the lifeline of the Andean Amazon rainforest. The region’s biodiversity and the indigenous systems of sustainably managing ecosystems are at great risk from dam building.
International Riverse (IR) is supporting the Wampis and Awajun indigenous peoples in their efforts to create Autonomous Territorial Governments that will give them self-determination within a State Government. This is challenging, but is what indigenous groups see as a way to protect their rainforests. In the case of the Wampis, this is 11 million hectares or rainforest. IR also supported and is supporting the Wampis on a project to identify the contribution of their rainforest in climate stability.
They are also working with national groups to create a Healthy and Free Flowing Rivers Law in Peru. The idea is to create a law that permanently and legally protects rivers or sections of river with certain values and attributes, much similar to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in the USA. IR is working with a coalition of indigenous groups, NGOs, religious groups, academics, and others to develop this work. IR has supported several studies, one is a social diagnostic aimed to have grassroots voices and support. IR has also supported the development o the principles to guide the writing of the law based on the analysis of water, forest, and indigenous, national laws and policies. They are developing a communications campaign based on scientific studies and local knowledge on the importance of rivers. The campaign will speak of rivers and forests and their strong relationship, as trees are made up of more than 50 percent water and need a steady source of it in order to grow and stay healthy.
IR’s strategy is to work with indigenous peoples to protect their rivers, their self-management systems, and the ecosystems that they sustain. They do so by supporting indigenous communities in developing long-term strategies, systematically collecting data, raising international awareness about the issues at stake in conflicts over rivers and dams, targeting dam builders from Brazil to China, taking up legal cases, and advocating for the permanent legal protection of their rivers.
In late April 2011, former Peruvian President Alan Garcia declared that the construction of 20 dams on the Marañón River was “in the national interest.” Some of the planned dam projects would involve a system of water transfers and irrigation in arid coastal areas. Others are planned to generate electricity to fuel the expansion of mining interests in the Andes, and could be used to export electricity to Brazil.
Eighteen of these proposed dams would be located in sensitive ecosystems such as cloud forests and equatorial seasonally dry forest areas. These dams would severely impact the unique ecosystems in these areas. The dams would flood the lands of indigenous Awajun and Wampi communities, who depend on the river and forest resources. Many are farmers who cultivate cacao, plantain, corn, peanuts, and manioc. Their agricultural livelihoods along with fishing in the area would be severely impacted by the proposed projects. Communities would be resettled in unproductive lands or in overcrowded urban centers that lack jobs and basic services.
Grants in the near future from the World Rainforest Fund hope achieve the following goals:
• Obtain territorial land rights for the Wampís, Awajún, and Kunkama indigenous peoples. This will include land demarcation, marking boundaries, mapping, restricting entrance, and stopping oil exploration and exploitation. This would protect nine million hectares. A large portion of this is rainforest.
• Catalyze the establishment of autonomous territories that are protected with their own bylaws, recognized as protected by the government of Peru. Obtain the passage of a national law in Peru similar to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Law in the US that permanently protects Peru’s wild rivers.
Long-term goals of IR:
• The dam projects proposed to be built on the Marañón and Santiago rivers are stopped.
• The rights of the Shuar, Achuar, Wampís, and Awajun peoples are respected over their territories, and large tracks of rainforest are protected.
• The indigenous peoples have the opportunity to learn about other good practices in protecting and managing their territories.
• The Marañón and Santiago rivers will be permanently protected.
For further information, please contact Monti Aguirre, Latin America Coordinator, [email protected]
Learn more about International Rivers at: https://www.internationalrivers.org/
The Borneo Project: Stopping Megadams in Borneo
We gave several grants to the Borneo Project to help their quest to stop megadams in the Borneo rainforests in Malaysia. Massive hydroelectric dams in the state of Sarawak are destroying the rainforests and livelihoods of the indigenous people who live there. The Malaysian government is planning on building 12 additional dams.
Borneo rainforests have among the highest diversity of animals and plants in the world, including the Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, other monkeys, Loris, beautiful birds, and gorgeous butterflies.
The Bakun dam put 700 square kilometers of virgin rainforest and prime farmland under water. An estimated 9,000 native residents, mainly from the Kayan/Kenyah indigenous group, were relocated and were forced to pay close to $15,000 for homes, despite being subsistence farmers with no previous participation in the economy of Sarawak.
The powerful forces promoting the dams—the Malaysian government and giant corporations—made the dams look unstoppable. Yet, against incredible odds, the Borneo Project has turned this issue into a winnable one, and now it appears many or even all of the dams will be stopped. It achieved this through amazingly beautiful and moving, short films that present the threat of the dams, corruption behind them, value and beauty of the Borneo rainforest, horrendous consequences of its destruction, need to preserve it, extinction of animals and plants from the dams, and the horrible fate of the indigenous people if the dams are built. The Borneo Project is also supporting indigenous people in their fight to preserve their rainforest through helping with funding for organizing and protesting against the dams, civil disobedience and blocking access of bulldozers that destroy rainforest to build the dams, educational projects, bringing international awareness to the issue, and campaigning against those are pushing these dams. It works with its allies and partners, particularly SAVE Rivers, the Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, and Communities’ Information and Communication Center (CICOM), all effective organizations working to stop these destructive megadams.
The Borneo Project is helping indigenous and local peoples establish a peace and environmental park called the The Baram Peace Park, a community initiative designed to protect Sarawak’s last islands of primary forest, celebrate local cultures, and develop sustainable livelihoods. The vision is spearheaded by communities in the upper reach of the Baram River in northern Sarawak, who want to stop logging in their ancestral lands and develop alternative income sources.
The park is currently being negotiated with the Sarawak government, and communities are discussing the scope and character of the park. The park will establish zones with varying degrees of human activities and ecological protection. The communities will decide on a future land use arrangement based on mapping and a series of inter-community discussions. A team of village representatives is monitoring the forest landscape to any report illegal logging.
In order to reduce their impacts on the forest, several villages are currently developing strategies to improve agricultural techniques. The focus lies on agroforestry and improving efficiency in paddy fields. Alternative sources of income are currently being explored, including eco-tourism. Since 2012, tourists have been visiting the area under the framework of “Picnic with the Penan“.
To improve the drinking water supply and sanitation, water pipes have been built in several villages. Establishment of micro-hydro and solar panels in villages are currently being explored. These renewable energy projects will provide a sustainable and affordable power supply.
Written histories, traditional dances, and food are being pursued to keep the indigenous cultures alive.
An ambitious project like the Peace Park calls for solid institutions. Part of the program targets building capacity in local institutions. Currently, all communities are being mobilized through roadshows – tours with presentations and discussions in the villages of the Upper Baram Area.
The Borneo Project brings international attention and support to community-led efforts to defend forests, sustainable livelihoods, and human rights. It has trained dozens of indigenous activists in community mapping, enabling communities to map areas of ancestral land claims and win legal cases and negotiations. It helps indigenous communities secure legal land rights. The Borneo Project supports communities acting to preserve and conserve local ecosystems. It has supported paralegal education and mobile legal aid clinics that have helped over 200 indigenous communities hold off destructive logging and industrial plantations. It has aided community reforestation, organic gardening, territory demarcation, indigenous education, and other village projects.
Securing indigenous land rights and mapping indigenous land are among the most effective ways to protect rainforests. In a recent study, the World Resources Institute (WRI) found that in the Amazon regions of Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia, in territories where indigenous peoples held titles to their lands, deforestation rates were two to three times lower than in areas with similar forests in which such communities did not hold titles to their lands. Forests protected by indigenous communities are associated with lower rates of deforestation. Forests under the control of indigenous communities tend to be healthier, storing more carbon than similar lands without the same protection.
The Borneo Project connects grassroots movements in Sarawak to global indigenous rights movements, strengthening the ties between communities to influence domestic and international policy. It also educates the American public about the importance of Borneo, indigenous rights, and the role of forests in climate change and biodiversity conservation.
Baram Peace Park
The Baram Peace Park--or Taman Damai Baram--is a community initiative designed to protect Sarawak’s last islands of primary forest, celebrate local cultures, and develop sustainable livelihoods. The park is currently being negotiated with the Sarawak government.
A team of village representatives has begun a forest monitoring project. Their task is to monitor the forest landscape and report illegal logging. Options to establish micro-hydro energy projects or solar panels in villages are currently being explored. These renewable energy projects will provide a sustainable and affordable power supply.
Partners of the Borneo Project
Save Sarawak Rivers (SAVE Rivers) Rivers is an indigenous-led network working to prevent the construction of mega-dams in Sarawak.
The Bruno Manser Fund is committed to campaigning for the conservation of the threatened tropical rainforests with their biodiversity and strive for the respect of the rights of the rainforest dwellers.
Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS) has been cultivating a cadre of community organizers who return to their villages after training to empower their own communities to deal with issues of land and resource management, and socio-economic development, as well as culture and education. PACOS is also poised to become a regional leader in renewable energy technologies through their strength in technical training and support.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM or Friends of the Earth Malaysia)
SAM is one of the most established environmental and human rights organizations in Southeast Asia. SAM provides paralegal training, documentation, advocacy, and community resource management systems.
Friends of Village Development supports rural electrification via micro-hydroelectric systems.
Uma Bawang Residents Association (UBRA) protects the ancestral lands of the Kayan community of Uma Bawang, beginning with organizing roadblocks against logging companies operating in indigenous territory. Through programs such as a communal fish ponds, livestock rearing, fruit orchards, organic farming, and an agroforestry pilot project for local timber needs, UBRA provides alternatives that stop destruction of rainforests. UBRA is internationally recognized. It has received the United Nations Equator Prize and the Slow Food Award.
CONTACT
Mailing Address:
The Borneo Project
c/o Earth Island Institute
2150 Allston Way, Suite 460
Berkeley, CA 94704
Email: [email protected]
Learn more about The Borneo Project at: www.borneoproject.org
Borneo rainforests have among the highest diversity of animals and plants in the world, including the Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, other monkeys, Loris, beautiful birds, and gorgeous butterflies.
The Bakun dam put 700 square kilometers of virgin rainforest and prime farmland under water. An estimated 9,000 native residents, mainly from the Kayan/Kenyah indigenous group, were relocated and were forced to pay close to $15,000 for homes, despite being subsistence farmers with no previous participation in the economy of Sarawak.
The powerful forces promoting the dams—the Malaysian government and giant corporations—made the dams look unstoppable. Yet, against incredible odds, the Borneo Project has turned this issue into a winnable one, and now it appears many or even all of the dams will be stopped. It achieved this through amazingly beautiful and moving, short films that present the threat of the dams, corruption behind them, value and beauty of the Borneo rainforest, horrendous consequences of its destruction, need to preserve it, extinction of animals and plants from the dams, and the horrible fate of the indigenous people if the dams are built. The Borneo Project is also supporting indigenous people in their fight to preserve their rainforest through helping with funding for organizing and protesting against the dams, civil disobedience and blocking access of bulldozers that destroy rainforest to build the dams, educational projects, bringing international awareness to the issue, and campaigning against those are pushing these dams. It works with its allies and partners, particularly SAVE Rivers, the Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, and Communities’ Information and Communication Center (CICOM), all effective organizations working to stop these destructive megadams.
The Borneo Project is helping indigenous and local peoples establish a peace and environmental park called the The Baram Peace Park, a community initiative designed to protect Sarawak’s last islands of primary forest, celebrate local cultures, and develop sustainable livelihoods. The vision is spearheaded by communities in the upper reach of the Baram River in northern Sarawak, who want to stop logging in their ancestral lands and develop alternative income sources.
The park is currently being negotiated with the Sarawak government, and communities are discussing the scope and character of the park. The park will establish zones with varying degrees of human activities and ecological protection. The communities will decide on a future land use arrangement based on mapping and a series of inter-community discussions. A team of village representatives is monitoring the forest landscape to any report illegal logging.
In order to reduce their impacts on the forest, several villages are currently developing strategies to improve agricultural techniques. The focus lies on agroforestry and improving efficiency in paddy fields. Alternative sources of income are currently being explored, including eco-tourism. Since 2012, tourists have been visiting the area under the framework of “Picnic with the Penan“.
To improve the drinking water supply and sanitation, water pipes have been built in several villages. Establishment of micro-hydro and solar panels in villages are currently being explored. These renewable energy projects will provide a sustainable and affordable power supply.
Written histories, traditional dances, and food are being pursued to keep the indigenous cultures alive.
An ambitious project like the Peace Park calls for solid institutions. Part of the program targets building capacity in local institutions. Currently, all communities are being mobilized through roadshows – tours with presentations and discussions in the villages of the Upper Baram Area.
The Borneo Project brings international attention and support to community-led efforts to defend forests, sustainable livelihoods, and human rights. It has trained dozens of indigenous activists in community mapping, enabling communities to map areas of ancestral land claims and win legal cases and negotiations. It helps indigenous communities secure legal land rights. The Borneo Project supports communities acting to preserve and conserve local ecosystems. It has supported paralegal education and mobile legal aid clinics that have helped over 200 indigenous communities hold off destructive logging and industrial plantations. It has aided community reforestation, organic gardening, territory demarcation, indigenous education, and other village projects.
Securing indigenous land rights and mapping indigenous land are among the most effective ways to protect rainforests. In a recent study, the World Resources Institute (WRI) found that in the Amazon regions of Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia, in territories where indigenous peoples held titles to their lands, deforestation rates were two to three times lower than in areas with similar forests in which such communities did not hold titles to their lands. Forests protected by indigenous communities are associated with lower rates of deforestation. Forests under the control of indigenous communities tend to be healthier, storing more carbon than similar lands without the same protection.
The Borneo Project connects grassroots movements in Sarawak to global indigenous rights movements, strengthening the ties between communities to influence domestic and international policy. It also educates the American public about the importance of Borneo, indigenous rights, and the role of forests in climate change and biodiversity conservation.
Baram Peace Park
The Baram Peace Park--or Taman Damai Baram--is a community initiative designed to protect Sarawak’s last islands of primary forest, celebrate local cultures, and develop sustainable livelihoods. The park is currently being negotiated with the Sarawak government.
A team of village representatives has begun a forest monitoring project. Their task is to monitor the forest landscape and report illegal logging. Options to establish micro-hydro energy projects or solar panels in villages are currently being explored. These renewable energy projects will provide a sustainable and affordable power supply.
Partners of the Borneo Project
Save Sarawak Rivers (SAVE Rivers) Rivers is an indigenous-led network working to prevent the construction of mega-dams in Sarawak.
The Bruno Manser Fund is committed to campaigning for the conservation of the threatened tropical rainforests with their biodiversity and strive for the respect of the rights of the rainforest dwellers.
Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS) has been cultivating a cadre of community organizers who return to their villages after training to empower their own communities to deal with issues of land and resource management, and socio-economic development, as well as culture and education. PACOS is also poised to become a regional leader in renewable energy technologies through their strength in technical training and support.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM or Friends of the Earth Malaysia)
SAM is one of the most established environmental and human rights organizations in Southeast Asia. SAM provides paralegal training, documentation, advocacy, and community resource management systems.
Friends of Village Development supports rural electrification via micro-hydroelectric systems.
Uma Bawang Residents Association (UBRA) protects the ancestral lands of the Kayan community of Uma Bawang, beginning with organizing roadblocks against logging companies operating in indigenous territory. Through programs such as a communal fish ponds, livestock rearing, fruit orchards, organic farming, and an agroforestry pilot project for local timber needs, UBRA provides alternatives that stop destruction of rainforests. UBRA is internationally recognized. It has received the United Nations Equator Prize and the Slow Food Award.
CONTACT
Mailing Address:
The Borneo Project
c/o Earth Island Institute
2150 Allston Way, Suite 460
Berkeley, CA 94704
Email: [email protected]
Learn more about The Borneo Project at: www.borneoproject.org
John Parnell: the Sapara and the Sarayaku in Ecuadorian Rainforest
The latest of more than one grant given to John Parnell was in July, 2020, to help protect the Sarayaku people from the coronavirus.
We gave a grant to an exceptional individual, John Parnell, who is a very dedicated activist working to help indigenous people of the Ecuador rainforest preserve their rainforest homes. He aids the Sarayaku by training tribal members in skills needed to install solar powered radio communications facilities. In the course of this training, they installed eight solar powered radios in remote communities near Sarayaku. He then helped the newly-trained Sarayaku people install a similar system in the neighboring Sapara indigenous territory. The Sapara, an indigenous nation related to the Sarayaku, have a much larger territory and are more spread out than the Sarayaku, and therefore have a greater need for communications between their remote locales. Radio communication is especially important for indigenous nations to save their rainforests from exploitation because they are spread out over large distances. They need to communicate over long distances to save their rainforest. Radios are essential and often the only effective and practical way to achieve this communication, in order to fight off exploiters and destroyers of their rainforest homes.
The Sarayaku are under immediate threat from the coronavirus. It is an emergency situation. Radio communication is crucial to fighting the virus and keeping the Sarayaku healthy. It is killing their elders at a higher rate than the other Sarayaku. The elders are the bearers of their cultural memories and traditions. In July, 2020, the World Rainforest Fund gave Mr. Parnell an emergency grant to purchase quality radios for the Saraayaku to help them keep from getting the coronavirus, to receive medical attention if they do get the virus, and to preserve their rainforest. The Sarayaku have few resources to treat the critically ill. Use of radios by their healthcare teams will greatly enhance their ability to provide timely aid and coordinate the logistics of medical evacuation. The radios will also be employed by their police, fire patrols, and border guards. The same radio communications tools that are helping save Sarayaku lives will also aid them in their struggle to preserve their rainforest home.
We actively and consciously choose projects that we think will lead to much bigger grants with very far-reaching results. Because of this selective choosing of projects we support, our grants are often amplified by other grantors. And this happened in this case in this case in a profound way. John Parnell states, “Amazon Watch wanted to include my Sapara radio proposal in a grant application to the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation, who were offering $14 Million in grants to support native Amazon Communities. They submitted an ambitious proposal that added 2 satellite internet stations and 3 large solar plants, in addition to the 4 high frequency radio sites I was planning. I am convinced that my being nudged by the World Rainforest Fund to shop my proposal around played a large role in obtaining the Di Caprio grant. This has freed up my project budget to help the Sarayaku. I am very grateful to the World Rainforest Fund in helping them to help their Sapara brothers and sisters in protecting their ancestral lands.”
Thus, the Sapara’s needs were met. So John used his remaining budget to do some much-needed work in Sarayaku. He replaced a damaged radio in one community and installed new ones in others, while continuing to train the Sarayaku to aid the Sapara. He also continued to support the Sarayaku with spare parts and material to keep their communications infrastructure functioning.
The Sapara are facing imminent threats from Chinese oil companies that are slated to enter their territory to explore for oil, because the Ecuadorian government offered blocks of land to the Chinese in exchange for lowering their massive debt to China. It is crucial for the Sapara people to be able to communicate their dire situation to the outside world when this occurs. The Sarayaku have been leaders in supporting other native groups in the Ecuadoran Amazon in resistance to this forced resource extraction.
John Parnell’s work is also helping these indigenous tribes with employment, food, education, and economics. He is making their life better, so they can stay in the rainforest, and not need to flee to the cities. This means more indigenous people stay in the rainforest and fight the exploiters, and preserve the rainforest. This is crucial to saving the rainforest, because the number of people defending the rainforest is very important in determining which side wins, the defenders or destroyers of the rainforest.
There were funds from our grant left over after the Sapara’s needs were met. John used his remaining budget to do some much-needed work in Sarayaku. He replaced a damaged radio in one community and installed new ones in others, while continuing to train the Sarayaku and Sapara. He also continued to support the Sarayaku with spare parts and material to keep their communications infrastructure functioning.
The Sapara are facing imminent threats from Chinese oil companies slated to enter their territory to explore for oil. The Sarayaku have been leaders in supporting other native groups in the Ecuadoran Amazon in resistance to this forced resource extraction.
John Parnell’s work is also helping these indigenous tribes with employment, food, education, and economics. He is making their life better, so they can stay in the rainforest, and do not need to flee to the cities. This means more indigenous people stay in the rainforest and protect the rainforest from exploiters.
John Parnell
[email protected]
We gave a grant to an exceptional individual, John Parnell, who is a very dedicated activist working to help indigenous people of the Ecuador rainforest preserve their rainforest homes. He aids the Sarayaku by training tribal members in skills needed to install solar powered radio communications facilities. In the course of this training, they installed eight solar powered radios in remote communities near Sarayaku. He then helped the newly-trained Sarayaku people install a similar system in the neighboring Sapara indigenous territory. The Sapara, an indigenous nation related to the Sarayaku, have a much larger territory and are more spread out than the Sarayaku, and therefore have a greater need for communications between their remote locales. Radio communication is especially important for indigenous nations to save their rainforests from exploitation because they are spread out over large distances. They need to communicate over long distances to save their rainforest. Radios are essential and often the only effective and practical way to achieve this communication, in order to fight off exploiters and destroyers of their rainforest homes.
The Sarayaku are under immediate threat from the coronavirus. It is an emergency situation. Radio communication is crucial to fighting the virus and keeping the Sarayaku healthy. It is killing their elders at a higher rate than the other Sarayaku. The elders are the bearers of their cultural memories and traditions. In July, 2020, the World Rainforest Fund gave Mr. Parnell an emergency grant to purchase quality radios for the Saraayaku to help them keep from getting the coronavirus, to receive medical attention if they do get the virus, and to preserve their rainforest. The Sarayaku have few resources to treat the critically ill. Use of radios by their healthcare teams will greatly enhance their ability to provide timely aid and coordinate the logistics of medical evacuation. The radios will also be employed by their police, fire patrols, and border guards. The same radio communications tools that are helping save Sarayaku lives will also aid them in their struggle to preserve their rainforest home.
We actively and consciously choose projects that we think will lead to much bigger grants with very far-reaching results. Because of this selective choosing of projects we support, our grants are often amplified by other grantors. And this happened in this case in this case in a profound way. John Parnell states, “Amazon Watch wanted to include my Sapara radio proposal in a grant application to the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation, who were offering $14 Million in grants to support native Amazon Communities. They submitted an ambitious proposal that added 2 satellite internet stations and 3 large solar plants, in addition to the 4 high frequency radio sites I was planning. I am convinced that my being nudged by the World Rainforest Fund to shop my proposal around played a large role in obtaining the Di Caprio grant. This has freed up my project budget to help the Sarayaku. I am very grateful to the World Rainforest Fund in helping them to help their Sapara brothers and sisters in protecting their ancestral lands.”
Thus, the Sapara’s needs were met. So John used his remaining budget to do some much-needed work in Sarayaku. He replaced a damaged radio in one community and installed new ones in others, while continuing to train the Sarayaku to aid the Sapara. He also continued to support the Sarayaku with spare parts and material to keep their communications infrastructure functioning.
The Sapara are facing imminent threats from Chinese oil companies that are slated to enter their territory to explore for oil, because the Ecuadorian government offered blocks of land to the Chinese in exchange for lowering their massive debt to China. It is crucial for the Sapara people to be able to communicate their dire situation to the outside world when this occurs. The Sarayaku have been leaders in supporting other native groups in the Ecuadoran Amazon in resistance to this forced resource extraction.
John Parnell’s work is also helping these indigenous tribes with employment, food, education, and economics. He is making their life better, so they can stay in the rainforest, and not need to flee to the cities. This means more indigenous people stay in the rainforest and fight the exploiters, and preserve the rainforest. This is crucial to saving the rainforest, because the number of people defending the rainforest is very important in determining which side wins, the defenders or destroyers of the rainforest.
There were funds from our grant left over after the Sapara’s needs were met. John used his remaining budget to do some much-needed work in Sarayaku. He replaced a damaged radio in one community and installed new ones in others, while continuing to train the Sarayaku and Sapara. He also continued to support the Sarayaku with spare parts and material to keep their communications infrastructure functioning.
The Sapara are facing imminent threats from Chinese oil companies slated to enter their territory to explore for oil. The Sarayaku have been leaders in supporting other native groups in the Ecuadoran Amazon in resistance to this forced resource extraction.
John Parnell’s work is also helping these indigenous tribes with employment, food, education, and economics. He is making their life better, so they can stay in the rainforest, and do not need to flee to the cities. This means more indigenous people stay in the rainforest and protect the rainforest from exploiters.
John Parnell
[email protected]
Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity
The rainforest, one of approximately twenty terrestrial hotspots of biodiversity on earth, is in the Tena upper Napo region, along the Pusuno River Valley. The indigenous people are mainly Quechua people who live in in villages in the area. The World Rainforest Fund likely set the record for the most species of animal and plant saved per donor dollar when we gave a grant of $7,000.00 to the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity, known as Fundación OSA in Spanish, to save an unprotected rainforest consisting of 10,000 acres in Ecuador. Scientists from the Missouri Botanical Garden studied this ecosystem, and concluded it has more species per acre than any ecosystem on Earth. It thus has the highest diversity per unit area of any ecosystem on the planet. Species there include monkeys, parrots, bromeliads, butterflies, brightly colored frogs, majestic trees, spectacular vines, and many other spectacular animal and plant species. This high biodiversity is the result of the fact that the low land Amazonian rainforest and the mountainous Andes ecosystems meet and overlap in this area, so that species from both ecosystems occur together here. It also has an unusually high number of endemic species (species found nowhere else on earth). This unprotected rainforest is adjacent to Sumaco/Napo-Galeras National Park.
The government of Ecuador approved the building of a road up to and into this rainforest. This road would have meant the destruction of the rainforest, because it would have given exploiters access to the forest. They would have been able to easily come and cut trees for lumber, shoot animals, clear land for agriculture, and drill for oil if they chose to. The grant money was used to hire people to inspect the road, which was found to be wider than the /Ecuador government had approved. They took photos of this, and showed government officials. The grant also funded the printing of booklets that showed the value of this rainforest, and the terrible consequences to the environment, animal and plant life, and people if the rainforest were destroyed.
As a result, the government of Ecuador reversed its decision and stopped the road. The rainforest was saved as a result of our grant. Fundación OSA stated that they had no other source of funding, and would not have been able to stop the road and save the rainforest without our grant. Only half of the grant money of $7,000.00 given by the World Rainforest fund we gave was spent. That means we saved the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, a size of 10,000 acres, for only $3,500.00, in US dollars. That is why we believe we set the record for the most species saved per donor dollar in history. The remaining $3,500.00 was used by the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity for their conservation work on Ecuador’s rainforests. The Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity is one of the most effective conservation organizations working to save rainforests, run so ably by the dedicated, effective, knowledgeable conservationist, Jonathan Miller.
To learn about the non-profit work of Fundación OSA in the Andes and Amazon of Ecuador and on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, visit https://www.4biodiversity.org and https://rainforestconservationprojects.org.
The Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity, known in Spanish as Fundación OSA (Organización Social y Ambiental), is a non-profit organization with active rainforest conservation and cultural heritage projects in the countries of Costa Rica and Ecuador. Their US tax exemption status is held under the auspices of the Living Bridges Foundation, a non-profit 501c3 registered organization based in Aptos California, USA.
Purpose and Intention
To support the protection of rainforest and other wilderness and natural areas, through diverse methods and strategies.
To document and rescue vanishing plant lore and create a new ethnobotany that seeks to strengthen the bridge of knowledge transmission among elders and youth.
To protect Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge and support traditional healers.
To assist Indigenous people’s communities in their struggle for cultural and territorial autonomy.
To enact programs which encourage the revitalization of an ecologically sound and economically sustainable relationship between people and the forest.
To promote rainforest conservation projects and offer volunteer opportunities.
Overview
The Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity, in Spanish known as Fundación OSA, is a collaborative effort among a small group of concerned individuals in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the United States in the fields of fundraising and proactively endorsing rainforest and wildlife conservation and cultural heritage revitalization projects among Indigenous minorities and rural peoples' communities. The work supports the struggle for cultural and territorial autonomy through land purchase programs and in the past via demarcation and decolonization programs.
They have dedicated efforts to cultural heritage rekindling processes that includes participatory ethnobotanical and ethnographical field documentation and publication of this material in bilingual education booklets for local schools. This has also included the preservation of medicinal plant knowledge via workshops and educational council gatherings, as well as the protection of the plants themselves in ethnobotanical gardens, in situ. Their work has always been in collaboration and support of traditional healers and their healing methods.
Among indigenous peoples’ communities, their approach is holistic and direct in nature aimed at finding creative ways to bridging the gap among the generations in order to collaborate in the efforts of safeguarding the rainforest and the knowledge pertinent for continued sustainable living, healing, and well-being.
Their strategy addresses the specific needs of the region in which they work. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, many of the Indigenous groups have obtained legal title to their communally held lands, which collectively amount to hundreds of thousands of acres of primary rainforest. The fact that these forest lands are held communally by Indigenous communities does not mean they are protected. The Indigenous People of the Amazon are faced with tremendous economic pressures at the same time that their traditional cultures are undergoing rapid change that follows modernization.
Unsustainable land-use, such as cattle and timber extraction, is rapidly becoming the main economic activity. A crucial, yet often overlooked, link in preserving the forests is the practical knowledge of the uses and value of the forest inherited by the people of the rainforest. This knowledge is, regrettably, disappearing even faster than the forest itself.
When forest peoples’ communities maintain their plant lore, they also maintain respect for the forest and always have a communally held forest reserve. Thus, Fundación OSA believes in the importance of promoting cultural revitalization and supporting Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge and healing modalities among indigenous peoples’ communities as an effective strategy towards supporting the protection of fragile rainforest ecosystems and the good health off the people themselves.
Their projects are small steps towards the preservation of the tropical rainforests. They create ethnobotanical gardens and cultural centers for youth to study with the community elders. They publish small bilingual educational books based on traditional plant lore and its application. They also channel funding to purchase and establish forest preserves by partnering with Indigenous communities that have demonstrated a commitment to conservation.
Costa Rican Projects
Ethnobotany of the Osa Peninsula
Marine turtle conservation on San Josecito Beach
Ethnobotanical teaching center
Ecuador Projects
Llushin River Rainforest Conservation Project with the Amazanga community
Ethnobotanical studies and cultural heritage projects among the Secoya
Land acquisition and agricultural project with Highland Andean Quichua
Dahlia K Miller - International Liaison & Outreach Staff
Tel: (510) 235-4313
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
Learn more about Fundación OSA at: http://www.guariadeosa.com/
The government of Ecuador approved the building of a road up to and into this rainforest. This road would have meant the destruction of the rainforest, because it would have given exploiters access to the forest. They would have been able to easily come and cut trees for lumber, shoot animals, clear land for agriculture, and drill for oil if they chose to. The grant money was used to hire people to inspect the road, which was found to be wider than the /Ecuador government had approved. They took photos of this, and showed government officials. The grant also funded the printing of booklets that showed the value of this rainforest, and the terrible consequences to the environment, animal and plant life, and people if the rainforest were destroyed.
As a result, the government of Ecuador reversed its decision and stopped the road. The rainforest was saved as a result of our grant. Fundación OSA stated that they had no other source of funding, and would not have been able to stop the road and save the rainforest without our grant. Only half of the grant money of $7,000.00 given by the World Rainforest fund we gave was spent. That means we saved the most biodiverse ecosystem on Earth, a size of 10,000 acres, for only $3,500.00, in US dollars. That is why we believe we set the record for the most species saved per donor dollar in history. The remaining $3,500.00 was used by the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity for their conservation work on Ecuador’s rainforests. The Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity is one of the most effective conservation organizations working to save rainforests, run so ably by the dedicated, effective, knowledgeable conservationist, Jonathan Miller.
To learn about the non-profit work of Fundación OSA in the Andes and Amazon of Ecuador and on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, visit https://www.4biodiversity.org and https://rainforestconservationprojects.org.
The Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity, known in Spanish as Fundación OSA (Organización Social y Ambiental), is a non-profit organization with active rainforest conservation and cultural heritage projects in the countries of Costa Rica and Ecuador. Their US tax exemption status is held under the auspices of the Living Bridges Foundation, a non-profit 501c3 registered organization based in Aptos California, USA.
Purpose and Intention
To support the protection of rainforest and other wilderness and natural areas, through diverse methods and strategies.
To document and rescue vanishing plant lore and create a new ethnobotany that seeks to strengthen the bridge of knowledge transmission among elders and youth.
To protect Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge and support traditional healers.
To assist Indigenous people’s communities in their struggle for cultural and territorial autonomy.
To enact programs which encourage the revitalization of an ecologically sound and economically sustainable relationship between people and the forest.
To promote rainforest conservation projects and offer volunteer opportunities.
Overview
The Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity, in Spanish known as Fundación OSA, is a collaborative effort among a small group of concerned individuals in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the United States in the fields of fundraising and proactively endorsing rainforest and wildlife conservation and cultural heritage revitalization projects among Indigenous minorities and rural peoples' communities. The work supports the struggle for cultural and territorial autonomy through land purchase programs and in the past via demarcation and decolonization programs.
They have dedicated efforts to cultural heritage rekindling processes that includes participatory ethnobotanical and ethnographical field documentation and publication of this material in bilingual education booklets for local schools. This has also included the preservation of medicinal plant knowledge via workshops and educational council gatherings, as well as the protection of the plants themselves in ethnobotanical gardens, in situ. Their work has always been in collaboration and support of traditional healers and their healing methods.
Among indigenous peoples’ communities, their approach is holistic and direct in nature aimed at finding creative ways to bridging the gap among the generations in order to collaborate in the efforts of safeguarding the rainforest and the knowledge pertinent for continued sustainable living, healing, and well-being.
Their strategy addresses the specific needs of the region in which they work. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, many of the Indigenous groups have obtained legal title to their communally held lands, which collectively amount to hundreds of thousands of acres of primary rainforest. The fact that these forest lands are held communally by Indigenous communities does not mean they are protected. The Indigenous People of the Amazon are faced with tremendous economic pressures at the same time that their traditional cultures are undergoing rapid change that follows modernization.
Unsustainable land-use, such as cattle and timber extraction, is rapidly becoming the main economic activity. A crucial, yet often overlooked, link in preserving the forests is the practical knowledge of the uses and value of the forest inherited by the people of the rainforest. This knowledge is, regrettably, disappearing even faster than the forest itself.
When forest peoples’ communities maintain their plant lore, they also maintain respect for the forest and always have a communally held forest reserve. Thus, Fundación OSA believes in the importance of promoting cultural revitalization and supporting Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge and healing modalities among indigenous peoples’ communities as an effective strategy towards supporting the protection of fragile rainforest ecosystems and the good health off the people themselves.
Their projects are small steps towards the preservation of the tropical rainforests. They create ethnobotanical gardens and cultural centers for youth to study with the community elders. They publish small bilingual educational books based on traditional plant lore and its application. They also channel funding to purchase and establish forest preserves by partnering with Indigenous communities that have demonstrated a commitment to conservation.
Costa Rican Projects
Ethnobotany of the Osa Peninsula
Marine turtle conservation on San Josecito Beach
Ethnobotanical teaching center
Ecuador Projects
Llushin River Rainforest Conservation Project with the Amazanga community
Ethnobotanical studies and cultural heritage projects among the Secoya
Land acquisition and agricultural project with Highland Andean Quichua
Dahlia K Miller - International Liaison & Outreach Staff
Tel: (510) 235-4313
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
Learn more about Fundación OSA at: http://www.guariadeosa.com/
