Aliados Foundation's vision is to transform the way business is done in the Andes and Amazon ecosystems. It creates resilient bioeconomy enterprises to promote local stewardship of vulnerable ecosystems at the landscape level. Formed from the merger of Runa Foundation and PlanJunto CI in 2018, the organization has restored nearly 90 hectares of degraded forest to date. Aliados' restoration work does not take place in isolation, but rather is an integrated component of a regenerative agroforestry and enterprise development system with local and indigenous communities. This multi-prong approach aims to improve local livelihoods, thus strengthening projects' long-term sustainability.
Aliados is currently focusing its restoration work in three Andes-Amazon landscapes. These projects will form the backbone of the foundation's restoration work for the next few years and the basis for its active participation in Initiative 20x20:
1. A Regenerative Bioeconomy Alliance in the Upper Napo Watershed in Ecuador, specifically the south and south-western buffer region of the Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park. Building on a decade's worth of experience in the region, Aliados is bringing together a network of indigenous, private, and philanthropic partners to transform this highly-threatened ecosystem. Over the next five years, the foundation will support these actors by incubating 10 new agroforestry value chains, restoring 2,000 hectares of near-farm tropical forest, and creating a landscape conservation plan for over 250,000 hectares. Its long-term goal is to create a resilient ecological corridor linking the Sumaco and Napo Galeras Reserves.
2. A new agroforestry and restoration model for Andes-Amazon cloud forests at the crossroads of the Sumaco, Antisana and Coca-Cayambe National Parks. This project aims to shift the local economy away from damaging and economically underperforming cattle farming to regenerative agriculture with cloud forest agroforestry. In 2020, Aliados created 60 hectares of new conservation area in the buffer region of the Coca-Cayambe Park and restored 9 hectares with “wild safe” agroforestry and native species. In 2022, it will replicate this model with farming families to create a new regenerative ecological corridor.
3. A combined production and conservation project with the Chachi indigenous people in the Ecuadorian Chocó Forest. Aliados is partnering with the Comuna Central Chachi to implement a regenerative cacao plan with over 600 hectares of agroforestry farmland and over 5,300 hectares of community conservation. Participating farmers will each also restore 1 hectare of Chocó Forest. The foundation's goal is to restore at least 500 hectares over the next 3 years.
The Aliados team will be working hard to implement these projects over the next few years and it hopes that lesosns learned in the field can make a meaningful contribution to Initiative 20x20.
Country
Ecuador
Aliados Foundation's vision is to transform the way business is done in the Andes and Amazon ecosystems. It creates resilient bioeconomy enterprises to promote local stewardship of vulnerable ecosystems at the landscape level. Formed from the merger of Runa Foundation and PlanJunto CI in 2018, the organization has restored nearly 90 hectares of degraded forest to date. Aliados' restoration work does not take place in isolation, but rather is an integrated component of a regenerative agroforestry and enterprise development system with local and indigenous communities. This multi-prong approach aims to improve local livelihoods, thus strengthening projects' long-term sustainability.
Aliados is currently focusing its restoration work in three Andes-Amazon landscapes. These projects will form the backbone of the foundation's restoration work for the next few years and the basis for its active participation in Initiative 20x20:
1. A Regenerative Bioeconomy Alliance in the Upper Napo Watershed in Ecuador, specifically the south and south-western buffer region of the Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park. Building on a decade's worth of experience in the region, Aliados is bringing together a network of indigenous, private, and philanthropic partners to transform this highly-threatened ecosystem. Over the next five years, the foundation will support these actors by incubating 10 new agroforestry value chains, restoring 2,000 hectares of near-farm tropical forest, and creating a landscape conservation plan for over 250,000 hectares. Its long-term goal is to create a resilient ecological corridor linking the Sumaco and Napo Galeras Reserves.
2. A new agroforestry and restoration model for Andes-Amazon cloud forests at the crossroads of the Sumaco, Antisana and Coca-Cayambe National Parks. This project aims to shift the local economy away from damaging and economically underperforming cattle farming to regenerative agriculture with cloud forest agroforestry. In 2020, Aliados created 60 hectares of new conservation area in the buffer region of the Coca-Cayambe Park and restored 9 hectares with “wild safe” agroforestry and native species. In 2022, it will replicate this model with farming families to create a new regenerative ecological corridor.
3. A combined production and conservation project with the Chachi indigenous people in the Ecuadorian Chocó Forest. Aliados is partnering with the Comuna Central Chachi to implement a regenerative cacao plan with over 600 hectares of agroforestry farmland and over 5,300 hectares of community conservation. Participating farmers will each also restore 1 hectare of Chocó Forest. The foundation's goal is to restore at least 500 hectares over the next 3 years.
The Aliados team will be working hard to implement these projects over the next few years and it hopes that lesosns learned in the field can make a meaningful contribution to Initiative 20x20.
Country
Ecuador
