MAKING A DIFFERENCE
All of our conservation and development projects have been carefully selected to provide the maximum positive impact on the communities and environments where we work. Long term partnerships with grassroots organisations, built to create short, medium and long term goals for each project guarantee that every team makes a lasting difference.
What better way to make a positive impact than by going to the heart of the Bolivian Amazon and working where your help is most needed. Over 40& of each team members' contribution goes directly to funding the project, and towards the long term running of Ambue Ari, a sanctuary created by past expedition teams to continue the dream and good work of local Bolivian volunteers.
Through professional project managers, who source food, materials and labour locally while following strict environmental and ethical policies, we guarantee that together we will make a very positive difference.
THE PROBLEM
The Bolivian Rainforest is known for its rich diversity of fauna and flora, boasting thousands of different species of plants and animals including the enigmatic and beautiful jaguar, and the loudest animal in the whole of the Americas, the howler monkey.
Unfortunately many of these beautiful and exotic species have become more and more sort after and fashionable for people to own as pets. These animals don't simply disappear into cages in local towns but become part of the far more lucrative pet trade. There are even some captive breeding programs that exist purely to fuel these multi-billion pound markets. With the potential profits that can be made, this is an irresistible source of income to local people. The average monthly wage of a Bolivian farmer for example is £50 and yet the same can be received from the sale of one Spider Monkey to an illegal trader for just one or two days work.
Over the past few years, the Bolivian government has made an effort to step up the control of the transport of such animals from the rainforests to the cities. Most roads leaving the jungle now have military checkpoints that confiscate any animals passing through. Initially the animals were simply released back into the wild as there was nowhere for them to go. This is often like signing the animals’ death sentence as many are already partly domesticated or may have been taken from their mother's at a young age. Having a lack of natural instinct means that these innocent animals will often only survive for a few hours back in their natural habitat.
THE SOLUTION
In 1996 a community foundation called Inti Wara Yassi was granted control over 36 hectares of forested land near the town of Villa Tunari in the Chapare region of Bolivia. This was used as a location for an animal sanctuary called Parque Machia, with the initial aim of providing a home for confiscated animals and unwanted and abandoned tropical pets. At the same time the sanctuary was to be used to create ecological awareness amongst the public and also to rehabilitate the animals where possible.
Since 1996 many animals have been brought to the sanctuary and some have been successfully reintroduced back into the wild. Those who are beyond rehabilitation remain at the park to see out their days in a comfortable living environment. Recent developments however have led to the threat of Parque Machia being confiscated from the foundation by the local government who hope to utilise it for more profitable purposes. As a result of this constant threat Inti Wara Yassi turned to QUEST for help to finance the purchase of a new and secure park where the animals would be able to live for years to come. Ambue Ari (meaning "New Dawn") was established in 2003 and is over fifty times the size of the original park in a more secure, remote and natural location.
PARTNER HISTORY
Juan Carlos is the founder and Director of Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) the local Bolivian NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) which QUEST has been working with since 2003. The organisation originally started off helping poor or orphaned children by teaching them a trade so that they could support themselves and their families. Juan Carlos also took these children on trips to the different cities and parks to teach them about Bolivia first hand. It was on one of these trips that Juan Carlos and the children saw hundreds of trees that had been burned in the rainforest, as well as a starving caged bird with clipped wings. As a result of the trip, the group of youths resolved to "defend our brothers the trees and animals" and Inti Wara Yassi was born.
The foundation’s work first began in La Paz, where they took over a local park and used the open spaces to educate the inner city kids of the importance of caring for the environment. CIWY soon outgrew the park in La Paz and moved to the small town of Villa Tunari where the local mayor granted them control of an area of forest just outside the town, now known as Parque Machia. Unfortunately this land became under threat from development and CIWY desperately needed to find a new location for the sanctuary. Through the donations given by QUEST volunteers, CIWY has been able to buy their own land and has created Parque Ambue Ari, which means “New Dawn.” This park is now dedicated not only to the animals it houses and rehabilitates, but also continues its work with the children of the shanty towns by inviting groups down to stay. The ongoing potential for this project is huge.
Today Inti Wara Yassi is run by the very hard working Juan Carlos and Nena, in addition to several other permanent Bolivian volunteers and numerous international volunteers who come to offer their much-needed help.
WHAT HELP IS REQUIRED?
Volunteers offer the sanctuary a much needed workforce and financial contribution to help the park continue to function. Financial contributions are vital as animal enclosures always need repair and maintenance, and the sanctuary animals constantly need veterinary care and food, simply to survive. It is truly staggering how much meat a jaguar can polish off in one day!
At Ambue Ari, the construction of new facilities is crucial to the park's ongoing development. Although this part of the project work is challenging, it is also extremely rewarding to see the finished product of all your efforts at the end of your time there. In 2004 and 2005 two 30m x 30m enclosures were built by QUEST volunteers for two jaguars who had previously lived in far smaller cages. In 2006 QUEST volunteers built Sama (a Jaguar) a new cage as his previous cage was being eroded away in Park Machia and started work on a new veterinary clinic. The clinic needs to be be completed in order for more animals to be transferred over to the new park to enjoy the relative freedom and space that it has to offer. In addition, two more enclosures are needed for the Pumitas to be separated as they are at an age where they would be leaving each other if they were in the wild.
WHERE?
Parque Machia:
The old park, Parque Machia is located in Villa Tunari, a two street, laid back tropical Bolivian village located between the towns of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. The village has local restaurants, small local stores to buy drinks, ice creams and food, a hospital and a pharmacy. There is now internet access in the village costing roughly 80 pence per hour, although this can be unreliable. Local volunteers have recently started up a café to help support the park, and this is a great place to relax after a hard day's work, before heading in to the village for dinner.
Ambue Ari:
The village of Santa Maria has a couple of basic shops and the next nearest town, Ascención de Guarayos, is an hour's bus ride away. Here you can find a hospital, church, restaurants, pharmacies, telephone, markets etc. Life at Ambue Ari is a real adventure as it is far more basic and "out in the sticks" than at Parque Machia. It is a magical place and with the children from the local communities working at the park too, you will have an unforgettable and unique experience.