Amazonia holds half of the planet’s tropical forests, approximately one quarter of its terrestrial biodiversity, and almost 75 gigatons of carbon. Forest fires across Amazonia have increased in the last couple of years resulting in a dramatic increase of deforestation to make room for cattle and other destructive commodities.

Working with the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) Re:wild has developed NUMI, the indigenous Shuar word for “tree”, an Indigenous-led restoration program that aims to restore Amazonian forests in Ecuador and Bolivia in a way that ensures benefits to biodiversity and forests, traditional and spiritual knowledge systems, governance structures, and food security of Indigenous communities.

Through communal work ceremonies called “mingas” the NUMI project builds community nurseries, trains community members in restoration techniques, restores key Amazonian forests and provides sharing spaces for intergeneration tradition knowledge transfer. This project is currently active in Ecuador and Bolivia with plans to expand indigenous-led restoration efforts across the Amazon Basin.

Key Species: Jaguar (Panthera onca, NT), Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris, VU).

The project start date and project description are provided from the point of view of Re:wild's support to the partner. Restoration work is focused in a more restricted area within the depicted polygon.