Lucia « Rainforest Partnership

Author Archives

December 6, 2009 by Lucia

Chipaota Artisan Project Update

I‘ve been meeting with the community about once a week for the handicraft project, alternating with workshops developed in many cases through the initiative and suggestions of the group of artisans. We believe that as we move forward in reaching our goal of commercializing the products, we’ll attract more and more people to the group, which is currently made up of 15 artisans.

We have been improving the designs of the handicrafts through both the workshops and the increased use of the piazaba fibers in constructing the products. In the workshops, we focus on the different stages of production: fitting of the fibers, craftsmanship, weaving/stitching, and the final touch to each piece. The artisan group has been acquiring necessary production materials such as scissors, knives, files, polish, and buckets.

The products initially proposed by the artisans were made almost exclusively of the “Tamshi” and “Yurakhuasca” fibers, with some small application of piazaba fiber for decoration. Inspired by the authorization of the management plan, we are making products with larger quantities of the piazaba fiber because it is such an attractive addition to the handicrafts. The resulting products look very elegant and different from those that we normally find in the local market, which could make them very competitive here and abroad. Photos below show the initial products made by the community.

Over the past 6 months the weaving/stitching, the designs, the symmetry of the product, among other things, have improved. The artisan group is almost ready to present its products to the market. Our goal this month is to send a sample to the USA to evaluate the commercial possibilities. Photos below show the improvement in the products over the past 6 months.

November 1, 2009 by Lucia

Ceremony for the Final Approval of the Management Plan for Chipaota

After 5 months of waiting for the Management Plan to be analyzed and approved by INRENA, the hard work of the community of Chipaota and the RP Team paid off, as the formal announcement of the Plan’s approval was given in San Martin, on October 27. The announcement was indeed a celebration for the community of Chipaota, as they are now legally able to begin harvesting and selling the piassaba fiber.

The ceremony took place at Regional Government facilities with the presence of 16 men and women from Chipaota, the Director of Natural Resources, the President of flora and fauna council and the Regional President of San Martin, who personally delivered the approval of the management plan to the Apu (Chief) of Chipaota. The regional president emphasized the important example that Chipaota has set for other communities in the region. He stressed the need to develop sustainable activities like the management plan, along with the development of artesan projects that will allow the region to develop and integrate.

Among others, the ceremony was also attended by representatives of NGOs, local media, and the RP Peru team. Before the delivery of the permit, Uliver Cenepo (president of the ECOMUSA piazaba), gave a presentation about Chipaota, its location, the activities taking place there, etc. Jaso continued explaining the process of the implementing the Management Plan, how Rainforest Partnership has provided support for the project and the next stages of development with the community. At the end Jaso and I distributed brochures about the project and RP to all attendees of the meeting.

The day after, I found the ceremony on the first page of a local newspaper with a memorable photo of the regional president and the Apu of Chipaota. The news of the ceremony and approval of the management plan was also aired on the local news.

July 15, 2009 by Lucia

Community Assembly in Mushuck Llacta de Chipaota

Our latest community assembly took place this Sunday July 12 at 8:30 am. The Apu (village chief), Don Prospero Cenepo Tapullima, invited the Rainforest Partnership technical team to participate in the assembly, which touched upon a diverse array of community issues. We informed the villagers and partners about the progress of the management plan of piazaba, which was submitted to INRENA last month.Jaso Angulo, the program manager for the paizaba project, informed everyone of the procedure we followed for the submission of the management plan document to INRENA. He explained the data that were processed (including data we collected in the field with community members), comments from INRENA, and the need to hire an INRENA-certified engineer to sign necessary paperwork. Finally, we presented a copy of the submitted document to the Apu, as a guide for the community and the piazaba producers. We explained the current state of the management plan and the procedure to follow prior to receiving permission to extract the fiber.

The members of the community inquired about the necessity of the specialist from INRENA to install the management plan. They also asked how much time it could take for the response from INRENA. Here we clarified that we had investigated the existence of a legal alternative while we were awaiting INRENA approval. We also mentioned that the president of the regional government is aware of this project and is going to make his best efforts to try to speed up this process to benefit the community, which is ready to start this work.We also talked about RP’s interest in continuing to support the sustainable development of Mushuck Llacta de Chipaota, since we could see the good organization and participation of the community during the development of the project.

Then we detailed the two projects that RP will continue to support, which are the implementation of the management plan of the piazaba and the artesan project. We mentioned the objectives, the method of work, and we made a general invitation to all of the members of the community (men and women) of Mushuck Llacta to participate in these projects, which will occur through December.Finally, we informed the villagers about the arrival of members of RP and their guest documentarians who will come to Tarapoto, Mushuck Llacta, and also visit the areas of piazaba production in the forest.

The villagers agreed to coordinate receiving the group. As a result of the community assembly, we had the acceptance of 100% of the attending villagers for RP to continue supporting them in the implementation of the management plan with the help of Jaso, in the development of the project, and artesan businesses with Lucia.

Chipaota / Projects — No Comments