Sunday September 6, 2009, 9:21 pm
Touch The Jungle is a rainforest preservation program that allows folks to go to real rainforest jungle and stay with villagers. The villagers are able to sustain their allotted appx. 25,000 acres of forest, rather than give in to mining, oil or timber companies.

You can go there on a non-evasive eco-tour quite inexpensively. (No, you don't have to zipline if you don't want to LOL). Check out the article, there's some photos.

National Wildlife Humane Society is a participating supporter of Touch The Jungle, and assists this valuable program in visibility, outreach and funding.

Sunday September 6, 2009, 9:41 pm
Thank you, Patrick!

Sunday September 6, 2009, 9:44 pm
Check out the nifty cement stairs that go up the steep bank, from the landing to the Tigrillos Lodge. They are new. :)

The old ones washed away in a flood disaster in February '09 at Playa de Oro. NWHS' online community (WCN) had a fundraiser, and bought the materials for those new stairs, along with a new covered building area for the boat item storage, and helped feed 9 families who were displaced after losing their homes in the flood.

Members of WCN can look at that photo and say "we did that".

Everything is almost back to normal now, and this trip's visitors had a real blast. Even if you can't go down there for a visit, please consider assisting, on the NWHS "Rainforest Program" page.

Touch The Jungle is a rainforest project that was created by Earthways Foundation.

Sunday September 6, 2009, 9:45 pm
Hi Rhonda.. *waves*
Pass this article on, if you have time :)

Sunday September 6, 2009, 10:19 pm
The wildlife rescue center being built by Touch the Jungle sounds wonderful. It's so good to see projects the help people, animals and the environment. You do good work:)

Sunday September 6, 2009, 11:47 pm
Awesome Patrick! Thank you.

Monday September 7, 2009, 9:12 am
The work being done on the new rescue center is being spearheaded by Tracy Wilson. Playa de Oro is already the only Margay refuge in the world. The new rescue center will be in Intag, which is "cloud rainforest" (high mountain).

Tracy is the program director for Touch The Jungle, and on the National Wildlife Humane Society's Wildlife Advisory Council. Tracy and Grace Lush deserve all the credit for the enormous efforts going on down there at site. Also, Rosa Jordan for getting all of this started with Earthways Foundation. Support continues to grow for this program, but donations can always be used. It is donations that enable expansion and funds refuges.

Between these 2 villages, around 50,000 acres of rainforest are being maintained in pristine condition. African Palm plantations are the new threat, along with mining, timber and big oil companies, in Ecuador. They offer villages royalties to exploit their appx 25,000 acre allotments, and give only short term returns.

Eco-tourism offers long term sustainability and income to these villages, while protecting and preserving large chunks of virgin equatorial rainforest. The TTJ/Earthways/NWHS fund raising provides income for these villagers, and takes no percentage for these orgs.

Please pass this article on to others here.

Monday September 7, 2009, 10:27 pm
This is awesome, R U going and hang upside down? LOL.
I'll pass it on.
Tks Patrickzz

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 5:40 am
This is absolutely fantastic, Patrick! Projects such as this enable the locals to understand that they can actually be economically sustainable by preserving their environment. Once a rainforest is cut down, it is good for agricultural use only for a few seasons of crops. It actually becomes wasted land and the delicate rainforest ecosystem has been lost forever.

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 6:10 am
Thanks Mandi, Cyn...
Indeed, when virgin rainforest is cleared, it will never be the same. Worse than farming, is the mining and oil companies. They not only destroy the forest, but create toxic waste that ends up in the soil and waterways, carrying their damage further down the line.

As far as agricultural exploitation, I shun palm oil knowing the careless and unethical damage these crops bring to very sensitive areas all around the world. They kill tigers in India who are displaced in areas where palm oil agriculture is developed. Recent news of tigers being poisoned is sad.

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 6:20 pm
Thank you so much Patrick!!!!

Wednesday September 9, 2009, 11:44 pm
Thanks Patrick-I set this aside with the express intent of spending some time on it and I'm so glad I did-!!!!!!

Thursday September 10, 2009, 12:17 pm
Thanks all!
This article will never make Front Page news at C2, but it is real action in rescuing not only real rainforest, but the villagers sustainability to protect it as well.

Intag has had problems with a copper mining company from Canada, who has hired paramilitary soldiers (private commandos) to bully, threaten and even use physical violence on them. The copper mining company is using millions in funds, provided by the Toronto Stock Exchange, to force their way into this area of sensitive rainforest and bully the villagers into leasing it out. They would devastate it.

Basically, the Toronto Stock Exchange is financing a paramilitary operation to force indigenous people into surrendering their allotted rainforest.

It's in an entirely different area than where the eco-tourists go, so there is no danger to them.

How does the Toronto Stock Exchange know they are financing this? Because the village is suing them in Canadian court. They are quite aware, but don't care. They condone the use of private para-military forces down there, obviously. It's been going on several years now, and has been in the news (sparsely) so the public really has no concerns either.

Friday September 11, 2009, 7:14 pm
Mandi T. (211)
Monday September 7, 2009, 10:27 pm
This is awesome, R U going and hang upside down? LOL.

I am going to try to go in April. I will definitely try the zip lining (hopefully not upside down LOL). Maybe there are others here, that might be able to save up for April 2010, and join me in Ecuador.