Some time ago, one of the land owners nearby our friend’s community Ruku Samay decided to sell his land with area of 41.2 ha. It has a strategic location on the Huambuno river, which then floats through Rio Blanco community, Ruku Samay estate and other indigenous communities. The pollution of waters in case that the land gets bought by mining companies would have irreversible tragic impact on the huge area.

This land is mainly made of unique plants of the primary rain forest. Is a smaller part of it used to be an agricultural acitivity of the local indigenous community, but is now slowly being taken back by nature. There is a lot of medicinal plants growing freely and the animals find their sanctuary here since nobody is hunting them here.

An idea to purchase this land and create a protected landscape area was created. Because of a poor economic situation of indigenous people in the forest, the price of $30,000 was absolutely unattainable for them. Therefore, we reached out to the people from Czech Republic and created the organization “Zivot postaru” (“Ruku Kawsay”). Thanks to generous contributions, we were able to purchase the land in 2013. In the next phase, we are ensuring the highest possible legal protection from Ecuadorian authorities. We would also like to help with recultivation of the former agriculture area and to support growth of the traditional plants by conscious planting.

We are hoping that this area will serve as an educational space for the kids from local schools. They could be learning to ridentify different medicinal plants and to understand natural composition of the rain forest here.

Thank you cordially for your support and help with protection of this beautiful place!