Congratulations to FONMSOEAM, an Ecuadorian cocoa farmer's organization supported by Great Wilderness,  for your outstanding achievements on 2009-2010:  

a. Two years $200,000 grant from the FIE-PROSUD to strengthen capacity of the small scale cacao farmer's association.

b. Commercialization agreement  between Fonmsoeam and Equitable with support from Veterinaries Without Borders to sell high quality cacao to be made into fine chocolate in Europe.

c. Organic and Fair Trade certification to farmers supported by GTZ.

d.  Establishment of a Volunteer and Internship Program at the farmer's association (Great Wilderness)

e. Establishment of a community extension and outreach program (Great Wilderness)

f. Successful completion of the Leadership and Enterprise program funded by Fundacion para la Tecnologia y Desarrollo del Ecuador (FTDE) with generous support from the Inter-American Foundation.

g. Establishment of market opportunities for Fonmsoeam's cacao beans nationally and internationally supported by Marco Lopez. 

h. Partnership development and General meeting with all partners currently supporting Fonmsoeam (GTZ and GW).

2. VOLUNTEER AND INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN ECUADOR AND VENEZUELA

Congratulations to our 2009-2010 Volunteers and Interns!

Peter Cook (Dec 09-June 2010)

Scott Winton (January- June 2010)

Maria Fernandez, an undergraduate student with a major on Silviculture from the University of Maine will travel to Ecuador on January 2010  to conduct a six month internship at Fonsoeam in the Esmeraldas province. Internship period: January-August 2010.

Amanda Rose Kessner and Sara Tiffany, are two undergraduate students from UC Santa Cruz with majors in   Gender issues, Politics and Environmental Studies. They both are participating on a six month internship at Fonmsoeam in the Mache Chindul Ecological Reserve of Esmeraldas. Part of Amanda and Sara duties include: Capacity building of cacao farmers organization, grant writing, technical assistance to farmers on harvested and post harvested activities, market development, ICT’s improvement, environmental education and gender equality. Internship period: June-Dec 09.

Peter Lu, is an undergraduate student with a major in Environmental Sciences from Yale University.

Peter participated in three months internship at Bilsa Biological Station in the Esmeraldas province of Ecuador. His research proposal  was focused on sustainable development at the reserve and surrounding communities.

(May- August 09)

Brad Walker,  is an undergraduate student  from Cornell University with major on Biology. 

On September 2009 Brad travelled to  Venezuela to work for three months as a research assistant on the  Forpus project.   Brad will participate on the following activities: mist netting, box nest checking, resighting, video recording, banding individuals, and data entry. Sept-December 09.

Kathleen Watkins, Web Designer.

Between February-May 09, Kathleen  volunteered at Jatun Sacha Biological Station and the Galapagos preserve in  the San Cristobal Island. Kathleen  participated in the reserve's conservation initiatives such reforestation with native species, organic farming, Amazon Plant Conservation Center preservation, agroforestry development, and environmental education.Volunteer period: February-May 09.

3. GREAT WILDERNESS TRIPS TO ECUADOR

Bill on the move...

Living with the Farmers in the Esmeraldas Province

On September 2009,  Bill Steele, our Executive Director,  traveled to Ecuador to visit FONMSOEAM, attend several meetings and participated on several events regarding GW's programs in the country.  In order to describe his travel experience he wrote on our Newsletter:

"Living with the local farmers is the best way to understand their needs and how we can help. So I decided to bring my tend and spend three of my four weeks in Ecuador sleeping  at the Fonmsoeam's Centro de Acopio in Esmeraldas. During my time at the farmer's association, I worked along side the farmers, visited their farms, interacted with other partners organizations who are also helping the group, and practiced my Spanish. "

4. GREAT WILDERNESS - RESEARCH PROGRAM

a. Soraya and Karl research trip to Ecuador- Forpus project. (Feb-March 09)

c. Karl's field trip to Venezuela- Forpus project. (18 July- 17 August 09)

5.  MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES  

a. Karl is attending conference in Indiana. (April 09)

b. Soraya and Karl are attending conference at Rockefeller University-NY. ( July 15-16, 2009)

c. Bill and Vicki are attending conference in San Francisco, CA at the Foundation Center. (August 09)

6. MEDIA AND EVENTS

On March 09, Great Wilderness' conservation work in Ecuador was acknowledged on the "San Francisco Chronicle". To see the whole article about the Pacific Orchid Event and orchid conservation go to: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/04/DD2Q163537.DTL&type=homeandgarden

7. NEW PARTNERS AND ALLIANCES

a. World Wildlife Foundation - Galapagos Island

b. Tangare Foundation and La Hesperia Biological Reserve and Station.  Quito

c. Hato Masaguaral- Los Llanos Venezuela. 

d. Hato La Fe- Los Llanos Venezuela 

8. BOARD OF DIRECTORS - NEW MEMBERS

On May 2009, Great Wilderness welcomed Sara Trieste as new member of our Board of Directors.