Climate Action Peru Project #19080

Agroforestry the Peruvian Amazon

by Alianza Arkana

Project Report | Nov 19, 2018
Farmacia Viva Indigena's Planted Seeds

By Sebastian de Los Heros | Program Coordinator

Farmacia Viva Indigena is a project led by the committee of Paoyhan, a Shipibo-Konibo community in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. This project responds to the fundamental needs of the community to reconnect with their ancestral knowledge of medicinal plants and to have access to affordable medicine. Further, this project will help to boost the socio-economic development of the community. Alianza Arkana will act as a bridge to facilitate the administrative and financial development of the project until it is fully self-sufficient.

Each month since the launching of this project, we have been travelling to Paoyhan to support the committee of Paoyhan in the launching of the Farmacia Viva Indigena project. We are pleased with the results of the most recent visit (on November 3^rd), as we see significant improvements in our working relationship with the committee as well as in the advancement of the project.

One of the significant achievements of this trip is that we were able to progress with the delimitation of the territory and the creation of pathways within the botanical garden. This allowed us to continue with the inventorying and registration of medicinal plants. Our progress exceeded our expectations as we were able to inventory and register over 250 plants in 50% of the demarcated territory. We are convinced that we will find even more plants within the territory during the re-exploration phase. Most of these plants have a story and myth - these will be compiled by the committee and conveyed to the children of the community and the visitors of the botanical garden.

Further, we organised workshops to identify the challenges faced by the committee in the early implementation of the project, in order to then transform these into strengths. This workshop also helped us to address and overcome the weaknesses in the working relationship between the committee and Alianza Arkana.

The seeds have been planted and we rest assured that, with the collaboration of this wonderful intercultural team, the project will rapidly be brought to fruition. We look forward to our next working session with the committee in December. Irake!

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Aug 20, 2018
Medicinal Forest Garden in Paoyhan

By Laura Dev | Research Coordinator

We have begun working on a new initiative with a committee of interested people in the Shipibo community of Paoyhan to develop a community-managed medicinal forest garden in their territory. The goals are for the garden to be able to provide plant medicines to supplement the local health post, to revitalize traditional knowledge about medicinal plants and forest management, as well as to provide opportunities for ecotourism and sustainable enterprise.

This project has been in the works since last year, and was inspired from dialogue during a climate change workshop that we held in the community. This is the community's response to some of the environmental changes they are seeing in their territories, especially regarding forest degradation, which also leads to loss of traditional knowledge.

So far the committee, with support from Alianza Arkana, has been actively planning, organizing, demarcating the land for the forest garden, labeling and placing plaques on medicinal plants and trees, and have just begun construction of a visitor's center made from locally harvested wood. We have a team from Alianza Arkana out there this week to help the committee do a big push on some of the work involved with getting the garden and visitor's center set up. It is amazing to see how much everyone is learning as we work together to implement a project of this sort - so we consider it to be a success already!

This project would not be possible without the continued support of our donors! We are so grateful to all of you who have contributed to helping the people of Paoyhan move toward their goals of conserving their forest and strengthening their community solidarity and health. If you are excited about the forest garden, please continue to support this project, and help us spread the word!

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May 21, 2018
Building Community at Alianza

By Charlotte Biren | Communications Coordinator

Here at Alianza Arkana, we are putting our mission to work and focusing on a key element of self-sustaining community development in the Peruvian Amazon. We are focusing our energies on developing access to skills trainings, internships, and other learning opportunities for Shipibo leaders, youth, and women. Education, mentorship, and intercultural exchange are critical in creating a more sustainable future for the Amazon and its people. In 2018, we prioritized the incorporation of Shipibo youth into the administration and direction of Alianza Arkana and its programs. We are honored to have these three talented young women contributing to the development and execution of our intercultural association. Meet them!

Geidy Marcelita Suarez
Co-Coordinator of Koshi Shinanya
Coming from a background in medicine and nursing, Geidy is co-leading our work with Shipibo youth and women. She has been critical in the development and execution of our successful women's health campaigns in the communities collaborate with.

Jacky Eva Melendez Rengifo
Administration Intern of Alianza Arkana and Designer with Non Kene
Eva is working with our Director of Administration to complement her Tourism and Hospitality Studies with technical administration skills. She is also a core contributor to Non Kene and develops her own 'kene' designs for the brand.

Emery Fiorella Picota Angulo
Marketing and Communications Intern and
Designer with Non Kene
Fiorella is an integral contributor to Non Kene and is learning foundational marketing and communications skills to share Shipibo kene designs, in addition to her own beautiful 'kene' designs, to diverse audiences and markets.

After having seen success from the integration of these three young women into the Alianza Arkana past 6 months, we are moving forward to secure more opportunities for Shipibo, especially women and youth, to contribute to the organization and receive support, mentorship, and training based on their skills and interests.

We are looking to continue our permaculture focus as well and link opportunities for permaculture trainings, workshops, and conventions to our Shipibo leaders in the communities who believe in its philosophy. Alianza Arkana is using its capacity on the ground to build bridges and implement the philosophy of self-sustainability and self-governance in its methodologies rooted in personal relationships.

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