08 Mar Amazonian and European organizations sign a Letter of Intent to Establish a Forest Restoration Project in the Amazon Headwaters
During a ceremony in the city of Puyo, east of Ecuador, representatives from Reforest’Action, CONFENIAE and Fundación Pachamama signed a letter of intent to establish a forest restoration project in the Amazon Sacred Headwaters. The project has the objective of planting at least 500,000 trees and will support the launch of the Escuela Viva de la Amazonía (Living School of the Amazon), led and implemented by CONFENIAE.
he agreement is made within the framework of the conversations held from a series of visits made by delegations from COICA and the Sacred Headwaters Initiative to events supported by the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, which was established by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in 2020.
The project has three main objectives:
- Regeneration of tropical forest in the Amazon of Ecuador and the north of the Amazon of Peru.
- Leadership and entrepreneurship training within the framework of the circular economy
- Agroforestry: Development of alternative sources of income based on new value chains of sustainably managed products.
As envisioned, it seeks to directly benefit Amazonian families and communities in Ecuador and Peru, and will be implemented through the technical teams of CONFENIAE and AIDESEP, with the technical support and monitoring of Fundación Pachamama.
In Ecuador there will be a main focus on the provinces of Pastaza and Morona Santiago in a first phase, this work will be carried out in coordination with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon CONFENIAE.
In Peru, the leadership of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle AIDESEP will oversee the work on the ground in the following Amazonian communities: Nazareth, Wachapea, Bichanak, Wawik, Yupicusa, and Nativa Pakui.
Work will be carried out mainly with native species from the Amazonian forests, fruit trees, and with new products of high commercial value that can be managed in a sustainable manner and generate economic benefits for the indigenous communities that inhabit these territories. This will allow the regeneration of forests, their biodiversity and the protection of the Amazonian water basins, vital for mitigating climate change.
At the end of the project, it is expected that 450 people will be trained in forest protection, 500 hectares will be restored and 500 hectares will be managed under agroforestry systems in Ecuador and Peru.
The project is carried out within the framework of the Sacred Headwaters Initiative, which is a proposal of the nationalities and indigenous peoples, based on the principles of cooperation and harmony to permanently protect life, biodiversity, and the territories of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon.
