Amazonica

Amazonica (stylized AMAZONICA) is a German nonprofit initiative dedicated to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the support of indigenous peoples living there. It was founded in 2002 as a pilot project, building on the work of the association INDIO-HILFE e.V., which was established in 1982 by Mascha Kauka and her late husband Uli Pohl. The organization operates primarily in Ecuador, where it has carried out over 200 projects with seven indigenous nations, benefiting tens of thousands of people. Its activities include land surveying and legal securing of indigenous territories, malaria control, building medical infrastructure, community development, education, and sustainable agriculture. Amazonica also runs an Urwald-Akademie (jungle academy) to promote understanding of the rainforest. The initiative is funded by the Amazonica Foundation, founded in Munich in 2007. Founder Mascha Kauka, a publisher and daughter of Rolf Kauka, has been active as a development worker and environmental expert for decades. The organization's mascot is a toucan named TUCO, symbolizing species protection.

Amazonica's history begins in 1980, when Mascha Kauka and her husband Uli Pohl traveled to Ecuador on vacation. In the rainforest on the Pacific coast, the chief of the Chachi indigenous people asked them for advice and help. To address this, they founded the association INDIO-HILFE e.V. in 1982. The first major project (1982–2002) was a 20-year collaboration with the Chachi people (about 7,000 individuals) in the last tropical rainforest on the Pacific coast, in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. This included surveying and legal allocation of traditional settlement areas. In 1989, the Ecuadorian government drew their attention to the precarious situation of the Huayrapungo, Kichwa mountain farmers in the Azogues/Incapirca region. Together with them, INDIO-HILFE produced cheese to help them market their milk. In 1992, they also began cooperating with the Pilahuin, another Kichwa mountain people in Tungurahua Province, who had similar marketing problems and many of whom had ended up in the largest slum of Quito. INDIO-HILFE enabled them to return home and rebuild their lives on their fields. This collaboration lasted until 2004. In 1997, after the Ecuador-Peru border conflict of 1995, military restricted zones in the Amazon region were lifted. The Sapara people and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health asked INDIO-HILFE to build a medical infrastructure. The first exploratory trip was made to Pastaza Province along the Pinduyacu and Conambo rivers to the Peruvian border. In 1998, a health project with the Sapara began, with a four-year contract signed by INDIO-HILFE, the Ministry of Health, and Sapara leaders. Five villages were selected for future health stations. In 1999, five Sapara were trained as paramedics at the hospital in Puyo. The work spread, and neighboring Achuar, Shuar, and Kichwa peoples invited Mascha Kauka to help them. In April 2002, the pilot project AMAZONICA was launched to 'save our tropical rainforest by supporting its indigenous inhabitants.' Model communities were established among three peoples. In June 2002, UNESCO granted its patronage over the AMAZONICA projects. In March 2002, the first 'Alternative Round' on renewable energies took place in Puyo, Pastaza Province, in cooperation with FH Weihenstephan/Freising. In November 2005, a second 'Alternative Round' was held in Quito with the Polytechnic University EPN, FH Weihenstephan, the European Climate Alliance, and DED. In 2006, the largest malaria campaign in the Amazon region was conducted. The pilot project ran from 2002 to 2007, involving about 12,000 indigenous people and focusing on education, healthcare, renewable energy, and forest protection. It was completed in 2007. In April 2007, the Amazonica Foundation was founded in Munich to provide funding. Currently, the Amazonica Academy is being built in the Ecuadorian rainforest, with an expected start of teaching in winter 2009/2010 and costs of about 1.3 million euros. The academy will offer postgraduate programs in climate and water balance, renewable energy, biodiversity, and more, open to indigenous and international students. Its director will be Uyunkar Domingo Peas, an Achuar leader.

• 2009

  Planned start of teaching at the Amazonica Academy (winter 2009/2010).

• 2007

  Pilot project completed; Amazonica Foundation founded in Munich in April.

• 2006

  Largest malaria campaign in the Amazon region conducted.

• 2005

  Second 'Alternative Round' on renewable energies in Quito.

• 2002

  Launch of the AMAZONICA pilot project in April.

• 2002

  UNESCO grants patronage over AMAZONICA projects in June.

• 1999

  Five Sapara trained as paramedics in Puyo.

• 1998

  Health project with the Sapara begins.

• 1997

  Start of development cooperation in the Amazon region after military zones lifted.

• 1992

  Cooperation with the Pilahuin Kichwa begins (until 2004).

• 1989

  Ecuadorian government alerts INDIO-HILFE to the Huayrapungo people; cheese-making project begins.

• 1982

  Founding of INDIO-HILFE e.V. association.

• 1982

  Start of 20-year collaboration with the Chachi people (until 2002).

• 1980

  Mascha Kauka and Uli Pohl travel to Ecuador and are asked for help by the Chachi chief.

Nonprofit conservation and development initiative focused on the Ecuadorian Amazon.

1. 1Regenwald schützen in Ecuador | Seit 40 Jahren | AMAZONICAamazonica.org
2. 2Über AMAZONICA: Unsere Geschichte & unser Teamamazonica.org
3. 3Historie - AMAZONICAamazonica.org
4. 4Schwerpunkte - AMAZONICAamazonica.org
5. 5Amazonica - Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
6. 6Amazonica - Wikidatawikidata.org