Community Plants 440 Acres of New Native Forests in Chile
April 27, 2007 : In south central Chile, strong relationships between conservationists and indigenous communities are planting the seeds of collaboration for generations to come.
Near the village of Lonquimay, landowners and Pehuenche community members – a subgroup of Mapuche indigenous people – are experiencing the early benefits of planting trees. They’re doing so alongside Sociedad Koyam Limitada (Koyam), an organization jointly run by a non-profit indigenous group and a natural resources management company, which creates sustainable development opportunities for the Mapuche indigenous people.
With financial assistance from groups including Conservation International’s (CI) Verde Ventures fund, the tree-planting project engaged more than 200 community members this year to create some 440 acres of new native forests.
Today, Pehuenche communities near Lonquimay are equipped with fencing and tools to manage their lands. Over time, the seedlings they plant will grow into native forests that will better protect Chile's biodiversity, benefit the global climate, and bring much-needed food, medicine, and money to the Pehuenche people.
"They are starting to see opportunities where they never saw them before," says Juan Pablo Cerda, a member of Koyam’s board of directors.
Partners in Planting
Koyam received a financial boost in August 2006 when it became one of four enterprises to receive a grant from Equator Ventures, a partnership between Verde Ventures and the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Initiative. The grant was followed by a larger $150,000 loan from Verde Ventures in to help communities reforest their land. 
With this funding, Koyam provides seedlings, fertilizer, fencing materials, and tools to Pehuenche communities. The loan also helps fund training for local landowners in planting techniques, and provides them with wages for doing so to help sustain their families.
"We see an opportunity to help the community and biodiversity, for today and for the long term," says Adriana Madrigal, senior investment officer for CI’s Verde Ventures. "That is exactly the type of project Verde Ventures is designed to support."
The Koyam project is the first tree-planting project for Verde Ventures, a fund that has invested more than $10 million to strengthen small businesses that conserve biodiversity and improve human welfare.