*Note: The following project is a SAMPLE to give a tangible idea of how a vision can protect the land and culture while at the same time providing income to those who are struggling financially.. Actual project selections will be determined by the board.
Project: Parque Puma Urco de Medicina Natural : : : Sucumbos Province, Ecuador : : : Sample Project
 |
The Parque Puma Urco de Medicina Natural (Mountain Puma Park of Natural Medicine) is a vision that is focused on plant and animal habitat preservation along with the study of natural medicines inherent within the biodiversity of the preservation. The park will consist of 4 different parts that work cohesively together to form a greater whole. These will consist of 1) Medicinal Plant Garden, 2) College of Medicinal Plants, 3) Zoological preserve, 4) Healing and Retreat center.
Thought and attention has been given to form a park that generates income, becoming self-sufficient after the initial startup costs. |
1) Medicinal Plant Garden : : : As any medicinal plant healer or study on Ecuadorian plant knowledge will tell you, much of the plant knowledge held for thousands of years by indigenous wisdom-keepers is currently being lost. Currently, many healers do not have adequate land to grow a diverse array of medicines and will be unable to pass on their knowledge to successors. The Medicinal Plant Garden will be focused on collecting and cultivating thousands of medicinal plants, with the intent of providing benefit to community through sales.
2) College of Medicinal Plants : : : While there are studies and books that catalog hundreds of medicinal plants within the Amazon region, currently there is no written documentation of the thousands of medicinal plants within Ecuador. The College of Medicinal Plants will focus on teaching students medicinal plant identification, patient diagnosis, and prescription/application. Additionally, students will be put to work on a cumulative project that will take many years to complete: cataloging the medicinal plants of Southern Ecuador. The college will offer long-term programs at affordable rates for indigenous students, as well as shorter course studies at an adjusted rate geared towards American and European students.
3) Zoological Preservation : : : Within a portion of the Park Preservation will be a zoo that is open to the general public for admission. Currently many animal species within Ecuador are threatened due to habitat loss and over-hunting. Most people within the jungles have never seen an anoconda. The Zoological Preservation will be a place to safeguard and study the diversity of animals while educating the public about their vital role within the ecology.
4) Healing and Retreat Center : : : This is the treatment center, where the knowledge of plant medicine becomes a useful application for healing illness. Currently within Ecuador, there are plants that treat every illness known, including cancer, tuberculosis, mental disorders, and aids. But in addition to the medication, healing also requires a knowledgeable curandero (spanish for healer), or doctor. The Healing and Retreat Center is the place where traditional curandero-doctors and college students (under their guidance) can treat illness. In addition to providing a valuable service for the local community, this center will also provide retreats for Americans and Europeans who wish to find personal healing, study with the plants, and learn shamanism. As current tourism within the jungles of Peru has shown, there is incredible interest within Westerners regarding medicinal plant medicines.
Project Recipient and Administrator : : : Francisco Tanguila
Francisco Tanguila was a founding member and the first President of U.N.A.E (Union de Nativos de la Amazonia Ecuador), an organization that surveyed land back in the 1970s (before many of the roads and accompanying land-rush) and created a network of 184 Pueblos (villages). Each village is set up to preserve the jungle through land occupation of indigenous Kichwa people, who are each granted 600 acres to protect. Within the bilaws of the charter, each land owner is permitted to cultivate a small portion of the land, while the bulk of it is to be undisturbed. Currently, much of the most pristine primary-growth forest is under protection of U.N.A.E. and 7 other unions that have followed suit.
Currently, Francisco Tanguila is the President of the Association of Indigenous Shamans of the Napo Region and a full-time healer. It is Francisco's dream to create a medicinal plant college and preservation center.

Home | Projects | Contact
|