MAKING A DIFFERENCE
2-Week Bolivia Animal Sanctuary Project
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 help is most needed.Each team members' donation 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 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 on both our Projects and Expeditions.
From the indigenous families of the Uros Islands to the porters of the Inca Trail, it is essential that we help to protect our hosts and ensure that we make a positive impact by travelling responsibly. We are able to do this by ensuring that we buy local (at a fair price), and use locally run operators.
Due to the nature of visiting such fragile ecosystems it is essential that we stick to our Environmental Policy minimising environmental impacts by the responsible use of resources, adopting a zero-litter policy, promoting the use of environmentally friendly products and managing waste in an appropriate manner.
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 saught after and fashionable for people to own as pets. 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 mothers 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 to provide a home for confiscated animals and unwanted or 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 utilize it for more profitable purposes. As a result of this constant threat Inti Wara Yassi turned to Quest Overseas for help to finance the purchase of a new and secure park where the animals would be able to live for years to come. As a result Ambue Ari was established in 2003.
Volunteers are needed in both parks to work with these endangered animals, rehabilitate them back into the wild where possible and to develop much-needed facilities to improve each animal’s standard of living.
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 by 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 the 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 so 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 came under threat from development and is why 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 and learn. The potential for this project is huge.
Today Inti Wara Yassi is run through the very hard work of 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?
The sanctuary desperately needs not only financial support, but also hard working volunteers who can help to run the park and this is where you come in. Whilst at Parque Machia volunteers will be given overall responsibility for one animal (or a group of animals) at the sanctuary. This could be a monkey, a parrot or even a jaguar or puma. Your work will involve feeding the animals, clearing out their enclosures, accompanying them on walks through the forest, assisting the on-site Bolivian vet in the simple clinic and generally using your initiative to think up ways of improving the animals' everyday lives.
Where?
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 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 days work, before heading into the village for dinner.
For details of what you will be doing during the Explorer phase in your third week please click on the 'Itinerary & Departure Dates' section.