Even, if you live thousands of miles of the Amazon rainforest, it plays an important role in your life.
When I traveled for the first time in 2007 to the Amazon Forest, I never thought to find a new passion in my life.
I was 34 years old at that time, and had been working as creative Graphic Designer at Advertising companies in the world.
I was 34 years old at that time, and had been working as creative Graphic Designer at Advertising companies in the world.
When I was on the plane, I was able to see the green horizon of the Amazon rainforest, my mind thought only in the biodiversity down there with their big cats, insects, snakes, dolphins, alligators, piranhas and million plant species.
My life changed forever when I put my first foot in the city of Leticia, a small airport in the Colombian Amazon. I arrived such as a tourist, but I had the opportunity to live and was accepted in a native community of Tikuna, Uitoto and Cocama Indigenous Communities.
I felt such as "Indiana Jones" when a stranger arrives for the first time, and the indigenous community were curious to see a stranger, they left their houses to see me, to touch me, because my color of the skin, accent, clothes and because I was different from them.
I confess that my previous life was a false life. I used to live in my comfort zone at that time, but the Amazon slapped mi face & soul... saying, "Stop complaining, there is a real life!".
I saw with my own eyes the Amazon Forest is rich of natural biodiversity, ancestral and traditional culture. However the indigenous communities are overwhelmed with problems and violence by armed groups outside the law, drug cartels, illegal wildlife trafficking, timber trafficking, unemployment, lack of governance with abandoned areas.
All of this are the consequences of corruption; reflected in lack of opportunities, clean water, hospitals and schools for a decent education for many children of the Amazon. And despite all this, I saw that even the people who live here "ARE HAPPY".
All of those things, pushed me in 2007 to create my own foundation Green Hope Colombia. In the beginning, with the support and help of the Colombian Air Force, we donate educational Christmas presents to different children in the indigenous communities. I realized that I can make a positive change in the future of these generations and in the area where I visited.
Since 2010, I am associated with ForestEver and UP2Green France, which support me financially and under the direction of Mr. Maikov Dumas, a Forestry Engineer, has all the knowledge and experience about reforestation projects, that have been developing in different Amazon indigenous communities.
We must name that we count with a great professional Forest Engineer Mr. Miguel López from Spain. Thank you Miguel for such amazing job!
Since 2010, we reforested more than 38.000 native trees in 5 indigenous communities of the Amazon. With all the funds, we support them with native seeds, establishing nursery, make compost, tools (shovels, machetes, gloves, boots), teaching sustainable techniques in workshops, and professional support.
This is a participative work, so the communities just sign a partnership agreement with us, where they just have to put the area to be reforested, work and enthusiasm to achieve the objectives of reforestation.
The goal we achieve is a sustainable reforestation and soil recovery where the forest was destroyed and deforested in the area of the indigenous community and the Amazon Rainforest. These trees are reforested, will bring in short term: banana, plantain, cassava and medicinal plants that used to feed themselves, and surplus production can be sell in local markets to have an economic income for daily living. In the middle term, native fruit trees will also be a source of food, preparation of juices or fruit pulp. They can sell their products in the local market, hotels and ecotourism projects. And in long term, in some years the reforested trees include timber, palm seeds that the indigenous can use for repairing their home and start their own business such as handcrafts.
This reforestation project, seeks to create a methodology for sustainable management of natural resources in the Amazon Forest. After years we have seen, the decrease number of people that could get involved in illegal business that cause the destruction of the Amazon. When we help them to reforest, we “empower” the communities to preserve, to manage their own natural resources to have their own economic support and at the end protect their forest.
Avoiding the destruction of the Amazon, our planet will have an opportunity to continue giving life to future generations; maybe while you read this you are living thousands of miles of the Amazon rainforest but I want let you to know that our Amazon Rainforest produces more than 20% of daily oxygen on our planet. 20% oxygen on our planet time, mean the sum of nearly five hours per day. YES!!!!, believe it or not our Amazon Forest provides the oxygen for us to enjoy our daily lives at work, our vacation and time with family, friends and children.
So when you read this article, breathe, I breathe, and millions of people are still breathing. Oxygen is vital to live, so remember that even though, you are thousands of miles, what you contribute positively in your country - city or area, affects the other side of the planet wherever we are. In the end, we're all in one place, one house, one Planet... Earth!.
Thank you to Photographers Without Borders to visit Us, and take pictures about our project with the amazing photographers Sienna Clough; Artem Nazarov and Danielle Da Silva.
More information of Green Hope Colombia: www.greenhopecolombia.org
More about PWB:
www.photographerswithoutborders.org
www.photographerswithoutborders.org
More info: greenhopecolombia.org
Children of the Amazon
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Reforestation at the Indigenous Community
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Reforestation project
GHC director with the smallest Monkey in the world
