Building a shared vision in the Sacred Headwaters region of the Amazon
This news item relates to the EFI-led initiative which ran from 2020 to September 2023
The Sacred Headwaters region in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon is considered one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. It measures 35 million hectares and is home to 600,000 people from more than 30 indigenous nationalities.
In spring 2022, the CBA and Lombard Odier joined the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative on a journey in the region to build a shared vision amongst indigenous peoples, global organisations, governments, philanthropists and investors in protecting the region, tackling industrial scale resource extraction and living in harmony with nature.
Read reflections from Marc Palahí, Chair of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance on his trip to Ecuador
A Living Laboratory will be be developed by the indigenous communities with the support of CBA member, Fundación Pachamama and our Living Lab coordinating organization, Reforest´Action. It aims to accelerate landscape restoration in Ecuador and Peru, while creating new forest-based value chains around cocoa, vanilla, medicinal plants and even eco-tourism, financing regenerative landscapes while preserving ancient traditions. The CBA will also support a new school for young indigenous leaders, to build new capacities to scale up restoration work and bio-based business models.
