Rebuilding our Regenerative home from the Ashes

Yesterday we lost our home of 7 years in an hour of fire and smoke.  Camino Verde reforestation center in Tambopata, Peru, is home to over 50 acres of diverse agroforestry systems with 400 species of trees planted, 200 acres of conservation of primary rainforest, a full time staff of 7, and hundreds of volunteers and visitors received over the past 12 years of operations.  

A senseless accident – involving a cooking gas canister turned into an inextinguishable flame – reduced our home, our kitchen, our books, and all the belongings of our staff to ash in just over an hour.

We are so grateful that no one was injured in the fire (including our cats, chickens, and dear dog Tayra). And we are additionally grateful for the outpouring of kindness, energy, and support we have already received from our extended family around the globe in the wake of this scary accident. 

As we pause to mourn a familiar space we are also aware of the needs of the immediate future.  Tree planting activities on the farm are ongoing at the time of this writing, with over 10,000 trees to be planted in 2019.  We are eager to rebuild, to rise from the ashes, and to continue uninterrupted with our contribution to Amazonian restoration.

In these unprecedented circumstances we are turning to friends and family, all of you who believe in our work and in the spirit of this special place we call home, to help us begin the process of reconstruction.  The intention of this campaign is to allow Camino Verde to heal as quickly as possible, and that means starting work on a new 25 x 6 meter building to replace the previous structure.  The total we are hoping to raise will not only replace the building, but also the kitchen implements, farm tools, and reference books that were lost in the fire.

Our gratitude is deep.  Amazingly, our partner Pacha Soap has offered to match ALL donations, one for one.  Meaning that if we achieve 50% of our total funding goal of $40,000 on GoFundMe, then we are already the whole way there. 

Every dollar contributed over the half-way mark of $20,000 will go to reinstalling a solar panel array at the time of reconstruction, and to rebuilding our library. 

More information:

Camino Verde is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to: -Protecting and understanding biodiversity in the Peruvian Amazon. -Protecting indigenous rights, autonomy, and wisdom. -Spreading sustainable ways of life and encouraging fair, sustainable development. Our mission is to plant trees and encourage others to do the same.

Camino Verde official web page