The National Reserve Pacaya Samiria is entirely surrounded by the Amazon frontal flows Maranon and Ucayali. The swathe of land encompasses some 20.800 square kilometers and is covered almost entirely by primary rainforest. Part of this is permanently inundated, constituting the so called Varzea, which is one of the most important biological reserves in the Amazonia. The Varzea gives home to approximately 10.000 members of the Kokama tribe, 525 of which are living in San Martin de Tipishca, one of the biggest of the around 100 villages in the area. The Kokama still hold on subsistence farming which consists of basic agriculture, fishery and hunt. A couple of years ago ecotourism was introduced to the community. But up until now, it yields unsatisfactory profits for only a small part of the population.
And this is how it happened, that in 2008 we became accidently involved in Peru:
Concealed beneath the palm roof of the village shop in San Martin, we discovered two solar lamps, manufactured by Solux Company from Germany. We went into the matter, trying to figure out what this was all about and finally came across a project initiated by Climate-Alliance. We decided to donate six of the lamps to an environmentalist group from the community which in turn tried to argue the village population into the benefits of saving petroleum and batteries. They proposed that the population shared in the costs of buying lamps, part of which PVA was willing to bear. In addition, every person owning a lamp should be obliged to take part in a reforestation and a waste management program that would provide for a proper disposal of waste beyond the community borders.
The population got convinced and hired a technician from the provincial capital of Iquitos in order to learn about the right use of the lamps. In December 2009 the prefabricated parts necessary for the installation of the lamps were sent to San Martin. In addition, a German technician from the Senior-Expert-Service was charged with assisting the community in the assembly of the lamps. Meanwhile, already 116 devices were set up during a course of instruction and demand for the technology is growing in the neighboring communities. In San Martin, a permanent maintenance and assembly shop is currently established. Together with Climate-Alliance and Solux, Pro Vita Andina is committed to introducing the project in more communities throughout the entire region.
When we visited the village in 2008, we were kindly invited to the community assembly. What came to our surprise was how well the community was organized and willing to carry out projects with a high degree of self-born initiative. Right after coming home to Germany, we received six remarkably sophisticated applications for the discussed projects. They focused on improving the basic nutrition of the population and an increase of efforts related to environmental and species protection that would in turn be a precondition for profitable ecotourism. The programs concerning reforestation, fish and poultry farming have already been launched. Besides, the need for an improvement of means of communication and assistance for better education have been accentuated.
In order to increase the effectiveness of waste collection, the village was divided into sectors. One group of villagers built 22 waste containers and took charge of arranging terms with the park administration of the reserve.