Friends of Ikiam works with indigenous people, living in the Amazon rainforest, to identify current and future challenges that they face. Our goal is to help these communities meet their challenges successfully. We assist with planning and implementing projects that allow indigenous people to keep their culture intact and reduce the impact of population growth and other external factors on the rainforest. We are currently working on water, sanitation, agriculture, and conservation projects.
The population of the rainforest continues to increase, and extractive industries' activities continue to pollute the rivers and cause illness. As the population grows, constructive ways to manage human waste and increase agricultural productivity need to be implemented. Clean water sources also need to be made available. Finally, these communities are remote and usually accessible only by boat or air. This makes it financially and logistically challenging to implement solutions.
Friends of Ikiam works with the Achuar organization, Fundacion Ikiam, to design programs and activities that will address the challenges in their communities. Our current projects include installing clean water systems in at least 10 Achuar villages, building composting toilet systems in at least 5 communities, and providing satellite internet access for 3 communities. We are also working to use the agricultural knowledge of the Achuar community to develop methods to expand the food supply.
Each activity that Friends of Ikiam undertakes will have long term impacts on the quality of life of indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and on rainforest conservation. Installing composting toilets will reduce the negative health impacts of human waste disposal. Water filtration systems will reduce the health impacts of water pollution on local communities. Lastly, the implementation of agroforestry techniques will increase food production, while protecting intact forests.