The Belgian Forestry Fund is a Belgian government subsidiary that supports sustainable development activities especially in the southern hemisphere. Between 2004 and 2007 the Fund, through Groenhart vzw, a Belgian non-profit organization, supported NCI in the implementation of activities such as reforestation, organic production, community legislation, training and improvement of local capacities, and construction of a management and education center in the Tumbesian dry forest of southern Ecuador. Additionally, this project succeeded in extending the Laipuna Conservation Area by introducing conservation management onto private, communal, and state lands surrounding the Laipuna area.
For more information see: www.groenhart.be/en/index.html
BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation organizations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. Birdlife has provided the funding for and helped to carry out major projects with NCI to conserve the highly endangered coastal dry forest of northern Peru and southern Ecuador, including Project Darwinnet to systematize information about their biodiversity. BirdLife has also supported NCI in a major project to provide development assistance to communities surrounding NCI's La Ceiba reserve, with funding from the United Kingdom Community Fund, and in association with the British Birdfair has supported the conservation of a number of critical ecosystems for endangered bird species in north Peru.
For more information see: http://www.birdlife.org
The Blue Moon Fund seeks to improve the human condition by changing the relationship between human consumption and the natural world. It seeks to promote conservation goals while seeking economically sustainable development models. Blue Moon Fund has provided funding to support NCI's efforts to conserve the extraordinary biodiversity of the lowland Amazon forests of Loreto, with particular emphasis on conservation of the Nanay River basin and the highly biodiverse foothill forests of western Loreto. In each of these areas, NCI is also working with neighboring communities to substantially improve their quality of life.
For more information see: http://www.bluemoonfund.org/
Blue Mountain Arts is an innovative publishing company in Boulder Colorado, and has provided unrestricted support to NCI's core conservation programs that preserve endangered ecosystems and species, while supporting traditional cultures. They have also supported the conservation of the watershed forests that provide the drinking water of Loja and other municipalities in southern Ecuador. In this project, NCI has purchased priority lands in the watersheds, and the local governments have committed funds for their protection and management through a tax on water users for the ecosystem services provided by these watersheds.
For more information see: http://www.bluemountain.com/
The Ecuadorian EcoFund is a private trust fund that supports local efforts and communities to conserve the natural heritage of Ecuador, through the co-financing of projects in specific areas. With their support, NCI has implemented a system for monitoring biological and social indicators for conserving biodiversity in the La Ceiba conservation and development area in southern Ecuador. Additionally, NCI has been working with local peoples to develop sustainable production practices using native bees and goats, and to reduce the illegal trafficking of endangered parrots.
For more information see: www.fan.org.ec/modulo.php?m=mef&lng=IN
The European Union is funding NCI's project Promoting Sustainable Production Systems of Cherimoya in Latin America (CHERLA). The main objective of CHERLA is to develop sustainable production systems for the cherimoya in three Andean countries (Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru), by the characterization, conservation and use of local genetic resources. These objectives will contribute to preserving diversity in this underutilized fruit, and at the same time, will lead to sustainable production strategies so the project will have a real impact on the welfare of farming communities in these Andean countries.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) coordinates the work of 17 German and Ecuadorian universities at NCI's San Francisco Scientific Station on the northern edge of Podocarpus National Park in Ecuador. Since 1997, they have conducted one of the largest ecosystem studies worldwide, investing more than $2.5 million a year in interdisciplinary studies of tropical mountain forests. The second phase of the research program initiated in 2007 will give greater emphasis to maintaining these ecosystems with practical applications for local conservation. Results to date include 109 Doctoral and M.Sc. thesis (33 of which were Ecuadorian), training of 700 research interns from local universities, and 140 papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
For more information see: http://www.dfg.de/
http://www.tropicalmountainforest.org/
Hunter Industries, based in San Marcos, CA, is a manufacturer of irrigation equipment, with products installed all over the world. Hunter has contributed towards the purchase of land to establish NCI's private reserve at the Sierra de Alamos in Mexico and for general support. The support to the Alamos reserve protects part of the last remaining tropical dry forest in the Americas, including the pristine watershed of the Rio Cuchujaqui, an area of spectacular scenic beauty.
For more information see: http://www.hunterindustries.com/
The Institute for the Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP) is a Peruvian institution focused on scientific and technological research for development and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Amazonian region. IIAP strives to improve the quality of life of Amazonian society through the investigation toward the sustainable development and the conservation of the natural resources of the Amazonian region. IIAP is working with NCI to help create regional conservation areas in lowland Amazon forests, and has also opened an office with NCI to implement conservation planning and actions in the Amazonas Region of Peru.
For more information see: http://www.iiap.org.pe
The Municipality of Loja, with 175,000 inhabitants, conducts two important collaborative programs with NCI. In one, the city taxes water users to generate significant funds to conserve and manage watershed lands that provide the city's drinking water. NCI makes capital contributions for land purchases in these watersheds, which protects biodiverse cloud forests of the Andean mountains. Loja has also become the first GeoCity in Ecuador under a program of the United Nations Environmental Program through the support of NCI. Thanks to this project, the city of Loja has collected all the environmental information and indicators to become an environmentally sustainable city. This mark of distinction is added to several other international prizes the city has received for its leadership in environmental problems such as waste management and green areas, and in public participation.
For more information see: http://www.municipiodeloja.gov.ec
http://www.unep.org/geo/index.asp
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, established in 2000, seeks to advance environmental conservation and cutting-edge scientific research around the world and improve the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay area. The Foundation supports NCI in its innovative Program for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Regional Biodiversity of Loreto, Peru (PROCREL), a partnership with IIAP and the Regional Government. This program aims to conserve the extraordinary biodiversity of the lowland Amazon forests of Loreto through the designation and management of several new Regional Conservation Areas (ACRs), identification and management of key ecological processes essential for health of Amazon ecosystems, and development of community-based resource management and sustainable development practices.
For more information see: http://www.moore.org/
The Mountain Institute cooperates with mountain communities to preserve their natural and cultural heritage in areas of the Andes that have global biological significance or exceptional historical value. The Mountain Institute is working with NCI to promote the sustainable use and conservation of Andean paramo ecosystems in Peru.
For more information see: http://www.mountain.org/
The National Committee of The Netherlands - The World Conservation Union (NC-IUCN) through its Small Grants for the Purchase of Nature fund, provided the funding for Nature and Culture International to purchase 1,680 hectares of endangered tropical dry forest habitat to add to NCI's La Ceiba conservation area. Since this purchase, NCI has purchased an adjacent property to extend the reserve to over 10,000 ha, making La Ceiba the largest private dry forest reserve in the Tumbesian region. NC-IUCN has also provided funds to support the sustainable use of forest resources at La Ceiba, through building the capacity of local communities to manage and add value to non-forest products.
For more information see: http://www.iucn.nl
The Overbrook Foundation strives to improve the lives of people by supporting projects that protect human and civil rights, advance the self-sufficiency and well being of individuals and their communities, and conserve the natural environment. The Foundation is working with NCI in the Tumbesian dry forest and cloud forest of southern Ecuador to promote the value of ecosystem services provided by natural forests, particularly the production of water, in order to support the conservation of the relevant watersheds. The Foundation has also supported a pilot ecotourism project at the La Ceiba Nature Reserve as an alternative source of income for local peoples.
For more information see: http://www.overbrook.org/
The United Nations Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) declared 2.6 million acres of Andean and Amazon forests of southern Ecuador as the Podocarpus - El Condor Biosphere Reserve, based upon an initiative of NCI and the support of the Ecuadorian State (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Defense), local Governments (two provincial and ten municipalities) and more than twenty public and private organizations in the provinces of Loja and Zamora. This area is one of the most biodiverse in the world, with more than 800 bird species and 5,000 plant species, with high endemism. It also shelters two ancient cultures (Shuar and Saraguro) along with the two main cities of southern Ecuador. The Reserve also provides around 1,000 m3/sec of water for 2 million people in southern Ecuador and northern Peru.
For more information see: http://www.podocarpuselcondor.org/
