Spanish

Friends and colleagues,

The month of April brings prosperous news for conservation. We work month after month to protect our planet. Here are some of the news highlights:

In the Forests practice, WWF-Peru opted for the implementation of a sustainable model to improve the family economy and promotes the conservation of forests through regenerative livestock farming. On the other hand, Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina will be working over the next 12 months in the grassland areas affected by the fires that occurred in the province of Corrientes in January and February of this year.

In Governance, WWF-Colombia organized three entrepreneurship workshops for young people in Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Medellín, where they received tools to connect entrepreneurship and sustainability. On the other hand, in Brazil, thousands of Indigenous representatives mobilized to Brasilia during the Free Land Camp. The Indigenous leader Eloy Terena in charge of the COIAB (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon) was interviewed by WWF-Brazil.

With regards to Finance, the Chile Nature Fund Foundation, the first national institution to mobilize resources for the conservation of biodiversity, was launched with various partners.

In the most recent edition of Earth Hour, WWF-Colombia celebrated this global event in the Jaime Duque Park, in Bogotá, with environmental activities that included the inauguration of "Our Planet", a circuit to learn good practices for a life in harmony with nature. Meanwhile, Bolivia commemorated this date with more than 100 activities in cities and towns around the country.

In the education realm, WWF-Ecuador celebrated the culmination of the second phase of the Training Program for Facilitators of Educational Processes in favor of Sustainability with the graduation of 38 participants.

Finally, WWF-Mexico launched “Dale Chamba: Communication for Change,” a pilot project that aims to implement communication and education strategies to raise awareness about the impact of food waste on biodiversity in order to promote changes in behavior.

Enjoy this new edition,

Roberto Troya

Senior Vice president & Regional Director

WWF-LAC

Farmer Field Schools change lives

The cattle raising in the Peruvian Amazon is one of the main economic sources for local families. However, this sector is one of the main causes of deforestation. A sustainable model improves the family economy and promotes forest conservation through regenerative livestock farming. 

Support for those affected by fires

With support from strategic partners, Fundación Vida Silvestre will be working over the course of the next 12 months in the areas impacted by the fires that occurred in the province of Corrientes, where one million hectares were impacted in January and February this year. An Emergency Fund was created to begin the restoration of ecosystems to recover the environmental services devastated by the flames.

Youth entrepreneurship for sustainability

In March, Generación 10, the platform created by WWF-Colombia, facilitated connections between young Latin Americans with environmental and social projects.  It organized three entrepreneurship workshops in Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Medellín. These spaces were attended by 128 young people, where they learned about tools to develop businesses considering global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and food waste.

More than 90% of the attendees expressed having greater capacity to identify the risks and opportunities of their businesses in relation to nature, as well as to implement actions to mitigate environmental challenges from its projects.

Free Land Camp attendees interviewed

One of the most active voices of the indigenous movement, Luiz Henrique Eloy Amado of the Terena people, was present at the Free Land Camp (ATL, in Portuguese), which took place in Brasilia from April 4 to 14. As legal coordinator of Apib (Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), he advocates for stopping what he calls “projects of death,” which threaten not only indigenous territories and lives but also the planet’s survival. Together with thousands of indigenous people who mobilized in the federal capital, Eloy Terena helped to show the fighting capacity and resistance of the original peoples. Read more in his interview with WWF-Brazil.

Chile Nature Fund is launched

The Chile Nature Fund Foundation is the first national institution to mobilize resources for biodiversity conservation. It was launched last April 4th with several partners and managers of the initiative from the public sector and civil society, among them WWF.

This new organization is expected will strengthen the protection of nature in the country and manage to change the current situation of Chile. It seeks to convert the nation into one of the 10 countries that dedicate the least funding to conservation worldwide into an environmental leader.

Environmental circuit to celebrate Earth Hour

This year Earth Hour was celebrated with a great event at the Jaime Duque Park, in Bogotá. The place was the epicenter of a day full of environmental activities that included the inauguration of "Our Planet", a circuit that will allow thousands of visitors to learn about practices that allow them to lead a life in harmony with nature. Claudia Bahamón, WWF ambassador in Colombia, Carlos Díaz, a young influencer from @lagranjadelborrego, and the chef María Camila Mosos, known on social media platforms as @maca_bites, were some of the attendees at the event. Additionally, more than 15 artists and influencers joined digitally, and more than 25 companies and entities promoted the switch off.

More than 100 activities carried out for Earth Hour 2022

With the slogan #ShapeOurFuture, the commitment to take care of nature was reinforced and the population was called on to participate in actions that were developed in cities and towns of the nine departments.

WWF-Bolivia closed this March 26th an agenda with more than 130 activities that mobilized an estimated 22,000 people nationwide, not counting those who accompanied the actions through social networks. This year the movement that activates more than 190 countries in the world, returned to in-ground activities after two years in Bolivia and kept open the possibility of following the events through social networks and streaming platforms.

Spreading awareness to curb waste

Dale Chamba: Communication for Change” is a pilot project that aims to implement communication and education strategies to raise awareness about the impact of food waste on biodiversity in order to promote behavior changes. This is a pilot program that will measure awareness and willingness to change behavior in favor of biodiversity. Its relevance lies in the fact that it will provide scientific evidence that will help establish a method that can be adapted in other countries in the world. In this sense, it is a pioneering program in the international arena that will use, among other measurement tools, state-of-the-art technology such as mobile ethnography. This pilot will promote for two years the leadership of young people as agents of change in the solution of environmental problems.

Educational facilitators complete training program

WWF-Ecuador celebrated the culmination of the second phase of the Training Program for Facilitators of Educational Processes in favor of Sustainability with the graduation of 38 professionals from different institutions. This initiative is carried out within the framework of the Bioeconomy Program and implemented by GIZ Ecuador, the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador and the Belgian cooperation.