The Ashaninka Indigenous Community live in the rainforests of the Peruvian Amazon and Brazil. Their population numbers around 100,000 individuals and they call 60,000 acres of rainforest ‘home’. They are known for their protection of the rainforest and were featured by Earthrise in a film called ‘healing the rainforest’. 

The community faces threats from deforestation. Since the 1980s logging has destroyed large areas in the Amazon and the loggers were violent and destructive. Illegal logging, drug trafficking and deforestation is still happening today. The Asháninka do Amônia at Apiwtxa fought them at every step of the way and preserved most of their local rainforest.

“It will all be gone”, says Jaime Pena in an interview with Cool Earth, “In another 30 years we might not find animals, bears or any other animals. There won’t be any left. So, in my opinion we need to get together with friends to learn about forest preservation.”

They’re the embodiment of incredible wisdom passed down through the generations and the community is considered experts at sustainable development. They work with organisations like Cool Earth in Peru and the Apiwtxa Association in Brazil to protect their territory through agroforestry, reforestation, and community-led, sustainable projects.

Sounds inspiring, right? That’s exactly what it was for Cristina Talens, founder of Source Climate Change Coffee. 

While working as Ethical Trade Manager for Betty’s and Taylors of Harrogate, she visited Peru and encountered the Ashaninka. She says, “Seeing how the forests literally create their own rain and support ecosystems was incredible, but also heartbreaking, because poverty was forcing people to cut trees just to survive. That really stuck with me.”

People living in poverty in Africa and South America use trees to meet basic needs. They clear the land so that they can plant subsistence crops, not realising that this causes significant environmental damage; biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and the release of stored carbon contributing to climate change. 

They also use the cut down trees to make fires to cook on and provide warmth. Or to provide barriers for livestock or build and repair wattle and daub houses. They may also sell on the wood or charcoal to make a little money. 

Fires for cooking and charcoal cause carbon emissions. It is estimated that over 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions per year are generated by burning wood and charcoal for cooking, which is roughly 2% of total global emissions - the same as that from air travel. 

But if people have little choice, they will continue to do the same thing. That’s where education around sustainable development comes in. Source Climate Change Coffee supports organisations that teach rural communities how they can benefit from agroforestry. 

Healing the rainforest

By planting trees, or better yet, preserving existing rainforests, they can do the reverse of deforestation. Agroforestry reduces soil erosion, it encourages biodiversity and most importantly, it stores carbon in the trees. 

Every bag of Source Climate Change Coffee contributes to these schemes in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mexico and Nicaragua. 

Many of our growers live in or near unique biodiversity hotspots, including rainforest habitats, that need protection. By teaching our growers their own version of ‘healing the rainforest’, we can have an impact on their daily lives and climate change.