Shuar Sustainability & Forest Conservation
Shuar Conservation and Sustainable Community Development Project (formerly POLE)
Project Advisor: Ed Mayer
In early 2007, a team from Dream Change visited the Shuar community in Miasal to meet with the community’s Rainforest Guardians, (Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica de Miasal) the organization that receives DC POLE Project funds. The outcome of these meetings between Dream Change and Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica de Miasal, has been to combine the POLE program (see the History of POLE in bottom page block) and the Shuar Sustainability Project to create a unified program of conservation and sustainable community development to better address the needs of the Miasal community.
Financial support though your donations to the Shuar Conservation and Sustainable Community Development Project will enable Dream Change to assist the Community of Miasal and Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica de Miasal implement their conservation, economic and social objectives summarized below.
KEY PROGRAM ELEMENTS ~
CONSERVATION COMPONENT:
- Assist the members of Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica to draft written management plans for existing rainforest reserves. A collaborative process, using models from similar projects as templates, will create plans that are site specific to the forest ecosystems and land use needs of the Miasal community.
- Strengthen the organizational capacity of Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica for implementing conservation management plans and managing the rainforest reserves.
- Promote the establishment of additional rainforest reserves through greater community participation in project activities.
- Conduct biological surveys to assess ecosystem diversity and health, and establish monitoring protocols that Los Socios members can use to determine the effectiveness of management efforts and impact of forest use.
- Ecosystem service payments to Shuar families who protect their traditional landholding in a rainforest reserve and adhere to the reserves management guidelines. Donations to this program help to offset global carbon emissions and pollution that contribute to climate change and resulting natural disasters.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMPONENT:
- Conduct a series of workshops and seminars in Miasal that focus on a range of topics identified by the community, such as environmental stewardship, family planning, health, nutrition, food security and sustainable income generating opportunities.
- Initiate sustainable income generating activities with potential for success. The market for jungle peanuts (Mani) which currently are grown for home consumption is growing rapidly and supply cannot keep up with demand. Other option include non-timber forest products and revitalizing Miasal’s ecotourism enterprise.
- Assess feasibility for introducing methods of production for domestic meat and fish as an alternative protein source which would reduce dependence on wild game.
- Forest Garden Training to increase diversity of food production and restore degraded land.
- Establish social development programs such as a scholarship funds for study in environment, education and community development, health worker training and emergency medical evacuation fund.
HUMAN RESOURCE COMPONENT:
- Project advisor to collaborate with Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica to redesign the program’s structure, coordinate technical assistance and capacity building.
- Hire Ecuadorian based project coordinator to work directly with Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica to provide technical assistance, organize and facilitate workshops and seminars, collaborate with other relevant organizations.
- Train 3-4 representatives of Los Socios de la Reserva Ecologica in conservation, sustainable resource management, health and other relevant issues. These trained community facilitators will assist with seminar programs and encourage the active participation of community leaders and members in project activities.
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The History of POLE
 History of Original POLE Project
Shaman Numi of the Amazon emphasized to John Perkins in the early 1990s that we must change our dream here in the north. He said that without changing our attitudes and aspirations - our dream and our consciousness - global and rainforest environmental programs could never fully succeed. He said that our dream invades the consciousness and dreams of peoples around the world like a cancer that will eventually erode the land and minds of these communities. Numi said - the world is as you dream it - and without changing the attitudes of industrialized nations all the warriors in his land could not hold back the tide of change.
John said he would do as shaman Numi pleaded, devoting his time and energy to programs that utilized indigenous wisdom to encourage those in industrialized nations to reevaluate their dreams, change their attitudes and cultivate Earth-honoring ways. John understood this clearly yet desired to do so in a manner that also directly benefited the people of the forest - those who are the stewards of the land, animals and trees. Together they devised a program that could accomplish both.
When the elders of the area met, they discussed their relationship to the trees, forest, animals and the spirits, understanding that a tree standing is far more valuable than a tree cut. They quickly pointed out that, although they have many practical uses for trees and plants - for medicine, foods and tools, their people have always received the greatest benefits from the forest through the trees' ability to provide life-giving oxygen, water, wildlife habitats, topsoil, rain, sanctuary and inspiration.
They were saddened by the young people who often leave the forest to work in the cities for the oil companies and for cash, as well as by those who clear the trees to raise cows for cash and slaughter. They agreed that they did not need much cash and that too much cash could affect their perception of what was truly needed and increase their dependency on the outside world - a fate worse than death for a warrior. Yet they admitted that, as their populations had grown beyond the forests capacity to support them and with the encroachment of missionaries and more modern ways, they now needed some items outside the jungle that they didn't before.
Since this time, Dream Change has fulfilled John's promise to Numi by sending funds to the Amazonian Shuar for preservation of their forests, in turn providing them with much needed cash. Dream Change works to change the dreams of industrialized nation's through educational programs and materials that shift attitudes and transform consciousness, has protected the natural habitats of Shuar and other Amazonian peoples, and has helped to preserve the ancient traditions that empower the dreams and ways of life of indigenous people.
The POLE Project emerged as a means to:
- educate people and shift global consciousness
- promote the preservation of the Shuar rainforest land
- provide financial support for the Shuar who have little access to the "outside world" cannot subsist solely on rainforest lands, and are dependent on outside sources until they develop sustainable industry
- conserve oxygen-producing rainforest land that will offset the pollution created by modern environments
- support the Shuar in their desire to avoid selling ancestral lands to oil interests or clearing trees for cattle raising.
In order to better achieve the original goals of the POLE Project and address community needs identified during the recent field visit to Miasal, POLE has been combined with the Shuar Sustainability Project. The Shuar Conservation and Sustainable Community Development Project unites the goals of both projects and will strengthen the collaboration between Dream Change and the Shuar of Miasal.
The POLE Project emerged from meetings with John Perkins and the Shuar community of the Amazon as a means to:
*educate people and shift global consciousness
*promote the preservation of the Shuar rainforest land
*provide financial support for the Shuar who have
little access to the "outside world" cannot subsist solely
on rainforest lands, and are dependent on outside
sources until they develop sustainable industry
*conserve oxygen-producing rainforest land that will offset the
pollution created by modern environments
*support the Shuar in their desire to avoid selling ancestral
lands to oil interests or clearing trees for cattle raising
As it is recognized by the Shuar that preservation alone would not save their forest, the POLE Program is one aspect of the larger WOW! movement incepted to shift global consciousness and to encourage the global community to embrace more earth-honoring values.
Dream Change has secured a partnership with Ecuadorian-based, Fundacion Pachamama of Quito, a 501 C3 formed under the guidance of Pachamama Alliance of San Francisco. Fundacion Pachamama works grass roots with diverse Amazonian indigenous groups and is the legal foundation which receives and distributes the POLE funds - moneys collected by Dream Change from people in the United States and elsewhere. 20% of all WOW! funds are allocated to POLE.
POLE money is distributed to Shuar individuals at community meetings. The Shuar association that manages preservation includes more than 65 highly organized families as "forest stewards" who ensure the trees are kept standing - and do the necessary bookkeeping and community gathering to manage the organization of participating families. These meetings bolster the community's responsibility and dedication to joint efforts in preserving their land and traditional values. Each individual or family protects a "garden" which could be many acres of land and the gardens are surveyed twice per month.
The Shuar have used their funds to repair bridges, gather needed family items, bolster the promise of their children and their children's future. Other independent projects such as those orchestrated by Mary Tendall (for example, solar energy) supplement basic needs. The Shuar heartily embrace DC's interest in working with them toward the health of our environment for future generations.
To support the Shuar; to shift the consciousness that perpetuates imbalance; to take responsbility to offset the pollution that modern cultures - we all -produce; please send your heartfelt contributions to:
DREAM CHANGE,INC.
P.O. BOX 705
WHATELY, MA 01093
(Please be sure to write 'Shuar Conservation/Sustainability' in notations margin.)
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