Amazonica
Amazonica (proper spelling AMAZONICA) is an initiative founded in 2002 to preserve the Amazon rainforest and to support the indigenous peoples living there . The most important activity is a jungle academy in Ecuador , which aims to convey understanding of the tropical rainforest and to pass on and deepen knowledge from model projects with forest Indians in the Amazon region of Ecuador in the field of community development.
Funding, support
It is financed by the foundation of the same name, founded in Munich in April 2007 . Financing is provided, among other things, by proceeds from the foundation's assets, endowments, public funds, donations and sponsoring. Supporters include the State University of Cuenca in Ecuador, the Munich University of Applied Sciences with several faculties, the Straubing Science Center, the Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences and the Technical University of Munich in Germany . Funding is also provided by the German Climate Alliance and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The founder and chairwoman of the foundation is the publisher Mascha Kauka (* 1945), the daughter of Rolf Kauka , who has been working as a development worker, environmental expert and advisor to the Indians in the Amazon region for 25 years.
activities
Pilot project
As part of a pilot project carried out from 2002 to 2007, around 12,000 forest Indians in the Amazon region of Ecuador gained experience with community development, accompanied by model communities in the territories of the Indian peoples. The focus was on education and training (including literacy, cultivating local culture, ecological agriculture and production, building a single market in the forest), building a medical infrastructure, introducing renewable energies for decentralized supply in the jungle and protecting the primary forest through creation of nature reserves and reforestation . The pilot project was completed in 2007 and the findings were documented.
Amazonica Academy
The Amazonica Academy is currently being built in the Ecuadorian jungle. Through the collaboration between Indians and German and international business and science in the industrialized nations, it is intended to create a better understanding of the responsible use of the rainforest. The offer consists of an academic operation with the subjects climate and 'water balance of the earth'. These include the use of renewable energy for decentralized energy supply, climatology , hydrology , geo-information , the production and use of site-specific renewable raw materials , studies of species diversity ( biodiversity ) and soil biology. The academy should be open to local and international students, lecturers and scientists. The course is designed as a postgraduate program with an internationally recognized degree. In addition, international research projects are to be carried out. In addition, there is the dissemination of experiences from the model projects for community development for forest Indians. The director of the academy will be the educator Uyunkar Domingo Peas, leader of the Achuar tribe in Ecuador. It is planned to start teaching in winter 2009/2010. The construction costs will amount to around 1.3 million euros.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Development aid in Ecuador: The Star Woman and Solar Energy , Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 19, 2010
- ↑ Bayerischer Rundfunk, alpha forum: Mascha Kauka, publisher, 1st chairwoman Indiohilfe, in conversation with Arndt Wittenberg , broadcast on September 15, 2005.