Description

Welcome to Senda Verde, a wildlife sanctuary nestled in the heart of Coroico, Bolivia! We're not just a sanctuary; we're a beacon of hope for biodiversity and our planet. Our mission is crystal clear: to save and shelter wild animals rescued from illegal trafficking and habitat destruction, and inspire action to protect and rewild Nature!

Sadly, Bolivia faces alarming statistics of wildlife trafficking and devastating wildfires causing habitat loss. But guess what? We're here to take a stand and make a meaningful impact for our natural world. There's an urgent need to rewild the planet. Half of all the land on Earth must be kept in a natural state to have any real hope of keeping climate change under control and to prevent the world's ecosystems from unraveling. New findings demonstrate the value and urgent need of not only protecting the functional wild nature we have left but enabling degraded ecosystems to return to full health through rewilding at scale.

Working for a finer future, Senda Verde's objective is to implement rewilding and protection actions in a recently bought site of 200 hectares (543 acres), "Passiflora", located in the Amazon, north of La Paz-Bolivia, in a strategic biodiversity corridor, close to the Madidi National Park, and spread actions to neighboring areas towards bringing back wildlife. An essential factor in the strategy is working with stingless wild bees for the vital ecological service they provide to enhance and maintain good ecosystem health.

The initiative embraces local people to achieve healthy living and centers on getting a vigorous environment in Senda Verde’s Passiflora spot and its surroundings. The project is accompanied by practices of ecological restoration, regeneration, and holistic land management that increase the number and diversity of flowers, fruit trees, trees, insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, while creating educational opportunities and local economic gains for nearby communities. Senda Verde aims to repair ecosystems and fight climate change by investing in conservation, acquiring more Amazon Rainforest land to protect and save biodiversity.

This Grant

We're embarking on a mission to safeguard the Parabas (macaws) species' natural habitats in the Bolivian Amazonas. That's why Senda Verde is spreading its wings to San Buenaventura, nestled between Beni and La Paz Departments in the Amazonas region in Bolivia! Our goal? To create a sanctuary, safeguarding Parabas' nests from wildfires and providing a thriving haven for them and thousands of other species (jaguars, monkeys, capybaras, etc.) that inhabit the area. How? By diving into rewilding—replanting native trees, flowers, and welcoming back crucial pollinators.

General

The idea is to protect the biodiversity of the place (Passiflora) and apply restoration and rewilding techniques in-situ. We also want to promote and encourage surrounding indigenous communities to do the same and launch responsible initiatives. The objective is to interest them in joining the project. The whole initiative will be strengthened by the native bee project and the production chain of honey from native bees to create a sustainable economic alternative to deforestation. Implementing good practices for the improvement of Nature will result in important opportunities in developing Rewilding Tourism as well, by offering a natural ecological attractive destination (outside and inside the Madidi National Park), within an ecological corridor of huge importance for wildlife. Responsible tourism here will provide a means for livelihoods that are directly linked to the health of the landscape. Rewilding therefore provides new opportunities to examine the nature-culture relationship and the ethics, management, and policies associated with tourism's embeddedness in ecological restoration practices and the framing of the wild. Emphasis will be placed on students, local people (mainly women and young generations), indigenous communities, different local and national authorities and institutions, taking into account proven non-invasive forest actions that they can all undertake to attain shared wellbeing in families and communities. People are key, and thus, we work towards situations where rural families can boost their returns, flourish, and earn a fair living from nature-friendly based activities.

Our focus revolves around four key areas:

• Educational Programs: We're partnering with institutions and volunteers to educate and inspire wildlife rescue and rewilding initiatives.
• Animal Welfare: Providing dignified living conditions for rescued wild animals, offering them a safe haven far from the perils of trafficking and exploitation.
• Habitat Restoration: Engaging in rewilding activities aimed at repopulating native stingless bees, butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds to restore their natural habitats.
• Inspiring local people to work for change. Tutoring is a key component of conservation and rewilding efforts. Without a better understanding across a broad range of audiences, about the importance of pollinators and their role in the web of life, we lose out on the opportunities to gather support for the work we do. We are bringing examples of the work being done to raise awareness among rural and urban people about the importance of native bees and of protection of Nature.

Thanks to our collaboration with the Wild Friends project, we're diving headfirst into the world of blockchain technology. Our plan is to leverage this tech to track our progress and efforts in the San Buenaventura expansion using Attestations and/or Hypercerts where we'll be registering all our milestones and progress.

Restoration of nature, based on rewilding principles, is one of the best ways of tackling our current climate and biodiversity emergencies. Rewilding is the best action we can take to help the planet heal. Native stingless honey bees are incredibly important to the health of the environment because they play a number of roles in the natural ecosystem. The fascinating story of native stingless bees (endangered species essential to our ecosystems) and food supplies- is crucial.

It is the opportunity to show regenerative in action at small scale but with a fine vision to prove (nationwide and internationally) how a transition to regenerative practices is possible. Senda Verde's new site provides unique in-situ opportunities to do so. The rewilding place is home to a prominent ecotype, including water streams, watersheds, distinctive and diverse fauna and flora.

A further component in the strategy is to adopt and promote the principles to enjoy nature photography responsibly by offering ¨sustainable nature photography¨ routes that support wildlife, nature and local cultures. Our aim is to educate people on contact with nature and leave them with suggestions to help re-establish their connection with nature.

What the COVID crisis has taught most people around the world is that their connection to nature is more profound than they had imagined. Rewilding and ¨wildlife trails¨ can help nature-based tourism to increase.