SachaLa – Rainforest Preservation Initiative

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed that’s all who ever have”. Margaret Mead

The Forest is Under Threat

Ahuano, Napo Province, Ecuador

An area of Amazon Rainforest located in region of Ahuano in the Napo province of Ecuador is currently being devastated by numerous mining companies. They are actively destroying a main tributary river of the area using dangerous chemicals such as mercury that poison the water table and they have clear cut 1/3 of the surrounding forest.

The area spans roughly 1,000 acres and 1/3 has already been deforested. What was once a forest teaming with life is now becoming a devastated, ruined landscape crying out for both protection and renewal. This region is part of the Amazon basin and is home to many indigenous Kichwa communities and precious flora and fauna that is being damaged day and night - maybe forever.

A Native Son Fighting to Preserve His Homeland

For Clever Grefa,  a 5th generation shaman who was born and bred in the heart of this forest in the Rio Blanco Community, the mining of his beloved rainforest home has been a crushing reality for him and his extended family who lives there.

Keeper of the wisdom of his culture and people, Clever was trained by his father and grandmother in the ways of the  indigenous Kichwa people and in the ancient healing practices of the Amazon.  He a renowned healer and plant expert who along with his father have been rainforest activists working to preserve the forest all their lives. They are founders of the Kichwa indigenous Rio Blanco community started in the early 1970’s. They created one of the first plant medicine schools in Ecuador’s Amazon and found the shamanic Ecolodge, Ruku Samay, in the mid 1990s to prevent deforestation and receive guests from around the world. Clever regularly leads journeys there for guests from the US so they can experience the healing beauty and majesty of this sacred forest.

SachaLa –  Protecting the Rainforest for Generations to Come

 To combat the devastating reality of the mining destruction,  Clever has begun a rainforest protection initiative together with his wife Laura Putnam and Alex Nazarine called SachaLa, which means ‘Joy of the Forest’. The mission of SachaLa is to raise funds to purchase the forest areas that have not yet been mined that are currently under immediate threat and create a sacred sanctuary and preserve. The land is contiguous to land he and his family’s ecolodge already own and have been protecting for over 100 years. Due to its strategic position, it’s a critical swath of primary rainforest that once acquired, would be a very import step to prevent further devastation.

 Currently there are 5-6 plots roughly 100-150 acres each for sale by private indigenous Kichwa land owners who want to sell to people who will preserve the forest instead of selling to the mining interests. Purchase of these plots would block entrance of the mining to critical  points in the river and primary rainforest that affect the lives of many families.

How Can You Help?

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed that’s all who ever have”. Margaret Mead

 The most effective change happens locally and by individuals who care. There is no better example than Clever and his Kichwa family who have worked tirelessly to preserve the land of this region and are fierce defenders of their culture and the beloved Amazon rainforest. They have made an incredible impact to both the forest and the men, women, and children who live there.

We would be honored and grateful if you  join our efforts along with Clever and his family to protect this forest so important to them and to all of us.

 To the Kichwa people, Clever tell us,  the forest is a living, sacred being who has sustained and nourished his people for millennia.  Clever and many generations of his family have worked and played in this very forest, bathed in its rivers and healed from its plants.  It’s not just the local people who benefit from this sacred forest. The Amazon rainforest is known as the lungs of our planet providing us with the very oxygen we need to live.

These acts of kindness and generosity to protect what heals and sustains us, connect us all on a deep level and are what make our earth a better place for us and for generations to come. More information on the critical forest plots under threat that are for sale and contact information to learn how you can be part of the solution is below.

Rainforest Land Needing Immediate Protection from Imminent Mining Threat

• Plot #1 - Information coming soon.

• Plot #2 - Information coming soon.

• Plot #3 - Information coming soon.

• Plot #4 - Information coming soon.

• Plot #5 - Information coming soon.

• Plot #6 - Information coming soon.

Contact Information

To find out more about how you can help preserve this sacred forest reach out to:

Clever Grefa

• Mobile: 646-316-0876

• Email: clevergrefa_licuy@hotmail.com 

Laura Putnam

• Mobile: 917-721-9059

• Email: lowieputnam@gmail.com