Cool Earth - Current Projects

Current Projects

Cool Earth currently has projects in Peru, Brazil and Ecuador. The charity argues that to be selected each project must fulfil the following criteria:

• They are located where rainforest is immediately threatened by human activities like logging and cattle ranching.
• Either their location or their conservation acts as a protective blockade for the forest behind them, ensuring optimum protection of forests.
• They are mature rainforests with high levels of biodiversity

Awacahi Project

The rainforest of Ecuador has amongst the highest levels of biodiversity found anywhere on the planet. The Awacachi Corridor, in the north west of Ecuador, is under threat of destruction by palm oil cultivation and logging activities. Along with the area it adjoins, it reinforces the conservation of over 350,000 ha. of rainforest.

Cool Earth invests in its protection system and in local community development that values forest conservation above forest destruction.

This is done by securing a system of community rangers to monitor and report illegal activities, support biological monitoring of key animal species and foster positive community relationships.

Cool Earth claims to have achieved the following by August 2008:

• A further 4.5 hectares of guadua (native bamboo) had been planted in degraded areas surrounding the Awacachi Corridor. Only harvesting a portion of the bamboo helps regenerate forest cover by improving soils and water regulation. Increasing the amount of guadua planted also increases the number of families benefiting from this type of alternative income generation (each .5 ha benefits 1 family).
• A further 4 hectares of cacao had been planted. The second harvest of cacao benefited 40 families by producing a yield 9,000kg, sold commercially at 2USD per kg. This was the first time the cacao could be sold commercially and from now on every harvest will produce similar yields, allowing families to have a consistent income. Other community members have asked to participate in the cacao programme.
• The nurseries close to the communities of San Francisco and Durango now have 300 native bamboo seedlings and 500 cacao seedlings that are ready to be transferred to the various plantations.

Ashaninka

Ashaninka lies in an arc of deforestation that is destroying some of the world's richest stores of forest carbon. With local partners, including Ecotribal, Cool Earth is securing forest once held by logging concessions and opening it up to rubber tappers and harvesters of forest produce.

The Peruvian Amazon is experiencing rapid deforestation. Illegal loggers are devastating the rainforest resources of many tribal communities. Cool Earth's project with the Ashaninka tribe at Cutivireni prevents loggers from entering the community's forests and the neighbouring Ashaninka Communal Reserve which form a buffer zone for Otishi National Park. In collaboration with Ecotribal, the Ashaninka chiefs at Cutivireni have offered their land for sponsorship through Cool Earth, allowing them to keep their forests intact and continue to live sustainably from their own land.

This Cool Earth project protects endemic species and ecosystems of high biological value. Ashaninka forests abound in wildlife, including high numbers of macaws, toucans, many hummingbirds, spectacled bears, several monkey species, tapir, anteaters and big cats. The project area helps protect an international rainforest corridor which in turn protects rare and diverse habitats ranging across Peru and Bolivia.