大象传媒

Image credit: Somos Amazonia 

Cool Earth would like to thank the Radio 4 listeners for their overwhelming generosity. Together you raised £29,883 to support our work alongside local communities to tackle deforestation and its impact on climate change.

María's story, told by passionate conservationist and presenter Gillian Burke, inspired so many of you to make a difference to the lives of rainforest families just like hers. Asháninka chief, mother and cacao-grower, María was able to overcome a health crisis and work to keep her carbon-rich forest standing strong with support from Cool Earth.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on indigenous and rainforest communities has meant that your support is now more crucial than ever. Incomes have reduced, food prices have rocketed and access to healthcare has been often non-existent for these remote villages. This has only increased pressure on the surrounding forest.

With the support you gave to our 大象传媒 Radio 4 Appeal, Cool Earth has been able to provide funds to help with access to medical supplies and healthcare, hygiene kits, food security and remote technical support for those like María who normally benefit from Cool Earth’s income generation programmes.

In the Amazonas Region of Peru, the Cool Earth team worked alongside local partner organisations on the ground to deliver hygiene kits. Face masks and alcohol gels were given out to 465 families in Urakuza, 145 in Huaracayo and to each of the Asháninka partnerships as well as a further 59 new communities in the area. Medical supplies were also delivered to a health post and funds were allocated to support the nearest local hospital in Santa Maria de Nieva with medicines and protective healthcare equipment for staff.

To maintain communication channels with the communities we have also invested in repairing radios so that they have access to external news and can keep up to date with new regulations.

To address food shortages and improve overall nutrition, Cool Earth coordinated with local leaders to provide short-cycle seeds and training. This will be expanded over the remainder of 2020 with remote support on cultivation and nursery maintenance provided to community staff. Using stringent safety measures, we have also been able to re-start some income generation activities such as developing fish ponds and cacao growing projects that allow local people to earn a living, protect their forest, and plan for the future. Thank you for helping us continue to make a difference, whether in times of crisis or calm.

.