Parijaro Visit 2010
"How do we know you're not an oil company, you could be loggers?"
The anxious questions the people of Parijaro asked Cool Earth after their village elder contacted us to help protect their endangered rainforest. It's natural they should be concerned. In the past visitors have arrived with offers of contracts to log their trees, some taking trees anyway. But Cool Earth's visit was to offer an alternative to deforestation.
The rainforest along the Rio Ene Valley is at great risk; plundered by illegal loggers, destroyed by cocoa growers, cleared for agriculture and other parts auctioned off for oil and mineral exploration, preserving it is urgent. 40,000 acres of this forest is now out of danger and will remain pristine because of Cool Earth's partnerships with the tribes people living there. The community of Parijaro heard about Cool Earth through neighbouring villagers - after loggers breached their borders, they enlisted our help.
Parijaro is virtually inaccessible in the rainy season. Its river entrance is too fast and furious in March and April. In the dry season loggers use the river to float timber out of the forest to access points. Cool Earth and the local NGO we work with, Ecotribal were forced to attempt the gruelling land trip over the jungle mountain range.
The purpose of the trip was to discuss with the community how we could protect this rainforest whilst supporting the people who live there. Although we were invited by the village elder it was important to get the whole community on board and answer any questions they might have;
"How will we benefit from people sponsoring our rainforest?"
"What support will Cool Earth gives us?"
"How can we improve the way we protect our territory?"
"The rainforest is our land how does working with Cool Earth affect this?"
Robust questions that Cool Earth had hoped would be asked.
Here was how we agreed we would be able to offer support:
The land that Cool Earth protects is made up of the community's territories which the Ashaninka have overseen for many generations. Working alongside the traditional guardians of the forest, Cool Earth has created a robust conservation programme that is entirely community led.
This first involves mapping land boundaries, using GPS systems, and formalising tribal land rights with the Peruvian government. Only then is it possible for the Ashaninka to put in place a unified patrol and response system across the forest that uses the communities' engrained knowledge of the region to provide the best possible protection.
Forest protection must, however, go hand in hand with community protection if an enduring and widely supported conservation project is to be created. This is why Cool Earth prioritises small interventions that make a big difference to the independence and security of the Ashaninka. These include
- Providing training workshops, demonstration projects and tools to boost the productivity of the community's subsistence farming;
- Improving the access to markets for the Ashaninka's coffee and cocoa bean production to improve prices and give the community more control over a crucial source of cash income.
- Working with groups to develop new sources of income, such as from the sale of the traditional beadwork jewellery that the Ashaninka women produce and sell to river traders. By opening up other markets for the exquisite necklaces, Cool Earth has helped fund the creation of the Ashaninka Mother's Association which has just bought an outboard motor for the community with the funds generated from jewellery sales.
- Helping with education, resources and facilities.
- Plus improving health care and medical support.
Please sponsor rainforest in the Ashaninka region to help us protect this area. Sponsor Rainforest
