MUSHUCK LLACTA DE CHIPAOTA
Even as we continue to work in Chipaota with the community in the implementation of the management plan, we have been working on a parallel project.

In the indigenous community of Mushuck Llacta de Chipaota, as in most Amazonian indigenous communities, women in the community made utensils with fibers, leaves, and vines from the forest for use in different activities such as carrying yucca, firewood, construction equipment, utensils for the kitchen and the home. Many of these practices have been lost.  Few people now know how to make the products, and the introduction of materials such as plastic has replaced the original natural materials used to make these utensils.

Rainforest Partnership is currently working on a project that takes the knowledge that is being lost and uses it as an alternative means of economic sustenance for the women in Chipaota. The women who rarely have the chance to contribute economically to the household income will be using nontimber products of the forest for generating an income. We are working to help the women relearn how to make these handicrafts and utensils from those few who retain the knowledge and help them identify raw materials, produce, market and sell the finished products.  By making the forest a source of their income, the women of Chipaota will value their community-owned land and protect it from further deforestation. Project Page >>

SANI ISLA
We are currently raising money to fund our second project located in the indigenous community of Sani Isla in Ecuador in collaboration with our partner nonprofit in Ecuador, Conservación y Desarrollo.

In the traditional societies of the Amazon Basin, women are excluded from most income-producing activities. But after months of deliberation, the indigenous Ecuadorian community of Sani Isla proposed a project that featured a traditional women’s job – Kichwa arts and crafts. The project, developed in collaboration with nonprofit Conservación y Desarrollo, combines small business development, environmental education, and forest conservation. The community will create a “studio” for arts and crafts production, providing women with a place to work together, exchange ideas and experiences, and sell their products to visitors from the nearby ecolodge. The craft goods use natural forest products such as seeds and fibers, which can be grown between rows of cacao on already cultivated land. Giving the community a chance to harvest multiple crops from the cultivated area prevents further deforestation of community-owned land.