Asháninka

Believe in the Asháninka to protect the Amazon.

The Asháninka call 60,000 acres of tropical carbon-storing rainforest home.

Home to thousands of years of history, culture, and traditional knowledge, and Earth-cooling carbon too.

We partner with four villages in Peru’s Ene Valley to ensure this way of life can continue in spite of challenging external pressures. Why?

The Asháninka are the real climate experts.

Their low-impact way of life protects rainforest far better than any government or organisation ever could.

We believe in the Asháninka and back them to continue to protect the Amazon rainforest that benefits all life on Earth – you should believe in them too.

Rainforest and the people that live there have always been exploited. From colonialists and missionaries to extractive industries searching for wood, gold and oil to corrupted governments and ill-fated conservation attempts. All causing harm to indigenous people and extensive damage to some of the world’s most valuable carbon sinks.

It’s not deforestation or even the resulting climate breakdown that threatens the Asháninka most – it’s marginalisation. Cash doesn’t solve everything, but it provides choice. That’s why we raise and give money to some of the most marginalised communities on Earth, to spend it wherever it counts most.

No cash, no choice.

Without sustainable income, food and medicines there is no choice but to sell rainforest to cover the basic necessities of life. Giving cash to communities and individuals to spend where it is needed most, means people have choice.

Cash Giving

PROJECTS

The Asháninka don't stand still; they act on threats. Collaborating with the Asháninka in Cutivireni, Camantavishi, Parijaro and Oviri aims to create long-term choice beyond deforestation, through a series of community-led programmes.

Forest Monitoring

Community member Adelaida mapping with the Forest Impacts team in Cutivireni, Peruvian Amazon. Backing traditional knowledge with satellite data arms the Asháninka with more insight to drive climate action.

Forest Monitoring

Cash Giving

No strings cash is given to ease pressure where it counts. No red tape, just money to buy what's needed to live. Essential when traditional means of generating income are being affected by climate breakdown.

Cacao Farming

Training has been delivered to over 200 families to grow cacao sustainably. Community member Mariá harvests cacao pods grown in once-abandoned forest gardens (small agriculture plots in rainforest). Cacao is then processed and sold in cooperation with a growers union to ensure a fair price.

Wildfire Prevention

We collaborate with Central Asháninka del Río Ene (CARE), an indigenous-led NGO, to fight wildfires before they start.

Coffee Production

Coffee is a vital cash crop for the Asháninka providing communities with a sustainable income.

Forest Monitoring with the Asháninka

Watch how the Asháninka are monitoring their forest, through groundtruthing and satellite technology.

Rainforest Resilience

Rainforest communities fight back against Covid-19. Josue Morales Agüero, Cool Earth's Asháninka Local Coordinator talks to us from Satipo, in the Peruvian Amazon to update us on how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting indigenous communities there.

Indigenous Voices

Cool Earth talks with Angel Pedro Valeria, President of CARE (Central Asháninka del Rio Ene) about the need for support for rainforest communities.

Radical Solutions

Explore climate-saving acts and cash-driven initiatives that benefit people and fight the climate crisis at the root.

Radical Solutions