Urgent Conservation Effort

View this email in your browser Protect Maquipucuna’s Biodiversity URGENT CONSERVATION EFFORT Dear Friend,  If you’ve visited Maquipucuna, you’ve felt its magic: the vibrant tapestry of magnificent wildlife and the quiet presence of the Andean bear, watching from the canopy. For nearly four decades, Fundación Maquipucuna has protected this, one of the world’s most biodiverse cloud forests, while fostering sustainable opportunities for local communities. At Maquipucuna, the Andean bear finds its sanctuary—returning each year to feast on wild avocados in one of the few places where they naturally congregate. Yet, the Reserve is far more than a haven for bears. Nestled within the UNESCO-designated Chocó-Andean Biosphere, it is a sanctuary for thousands of other species: mammals, butterflies, orchids, hummingbirds, frogs… and the people who depend on this vibrant forest.   Today, this forest is at risk. And we urgently need your help. DONATE NOW We have  launched a global campaign to protect the Maquipucuna Andean Bear Corridor — a five-year effort to secure 24 strategic properties and ensure long-term protection of 4,000 hectares adjacent to the reserve. It begins with one urgent step: We must raise $390,000 immediately to secure an 89-hectare property bordering the main bear congregation site — a critical piece of the corridor linking Maquipucuna to a National Park to the north. There are already two competing bids on this land. The other buyers are actively negotiating and ready to close. One is a national chain of adult entertainment establishments, which would put at risk the ecotourism nature of the area, and the other is for a farming operation that relies heavily on chemicals that would directly threaten the river and nearby habitat.   We’ve negotiated a price. We have the legal groundwork ready. What we need now is you! Your gift TODAY can be tripled! Thanks to our partners at  Rainforest Trust, your donation will be  matched 2:1 — and possibly 3:1. DONATE NOW This is more than a land purchase We’re building a bold model for how conservation can be sustained into the future, through your support and through new, traceable tools that honor standing forests and the species that call them home. Every donor will be recognized as part of the Founding Circle of the Bear Corridor Campaign and receive exclusive updates as the corridor grows, and as we advance the developing of novel ways to protect the forest and to develop the local communities.   If you haven’t visited our Maquipucuna Ecolodge, we warmly invite you to experience the beauty of the cloud forest firsthand:  Book your cloud forest experience   We’re deeply grateful for the support we’ve received from the global community —from those who’ve walked our trails, to those who have contributed to our cause in a myriad of ways. Every contribution makes a difference in safeguarding biodiversity and ensuring that crucial land parcel becomes another Maquipucuna’s thriving bear sanctuary. Thank you for being part of this legacy. With heartfelt gratitude, Rodrigo & Rebeca on behalf of the Maquipucuna Community For US tax-deductible donations: DONATE NOW For International wire transfers: Bank Name: PRODUBANCO Checking Account #: 02002025147 Swift Code: PRODECEQ Name: Fundación Maquipucuna RUC: 1790892514001 Address: Baquerizo E9-153 y Tamayo, Quito – Ecuador Email: [email protected]g Help Protect Nature Now F O L L O W on F A C E B O O K F O L L O W on I N S T A G R A M

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PIONEERING CONSERVATION IN ECUADOR

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Fundación Maquipucuna is an Ecuador-based nonprofit organization, Reserve and Ecolodge situated on 14,000 acres within the Chocó-Andino bioregion, one of earth's top 5 biodiversity hotspots. ​It offers global inspiration that leverages collective wisdom and creativity to foster regenerative development, emphasizing holistic conservation practices, climate refugia, and valuing and nurturing ecosystem services across multiple scales.

​Together with local communities and governments they have created the Chocó-Andino Biosphere Reserve which works to:

• Preserve local wildlife (including endangered species such as the Andean (spectacled) bear); 
• Promote  environmental education, sustainable economic development, and research 
• Demonstrate that the preservation of natural assets yields much greater long-term economic and societal benefits than the economic activities that damage these natural assets for short-term profit.

Maquipucuna has sustainability ingrained into virtually all aspects of their model. They support environmental preservation initiatives that simultaneously generate income and security for local communities; they conduct an eco-tourism program to fund their own operations and they seek collaborations and partnerships with municipal government that will protect and expand their critical work.

Pennywise is partnering with Maquipucuna and Earth Analytic, a mapping and geospatial analysis company specializing environmental preservation, to raise international awareness of and support for these critical natural resources and to support the responsible stewardship of them. 

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Rebeca Justicia, PhD. & Rodrigo Ontaneda, Maquipucuna is an Ecuador-based nonprofit organization, Reserve and Ecolodge situated on 14,000 acres within the Chocó-Andino bioregion.

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Wetherbee Dorshow, PhD.
Specializing in science-based design, implementation, and management of geographic information systems for energy and conservation projects. 
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