CloudForest Organics

The Ecuadorian cloud forest is one of the most biodiverse biomes on Earth, yet the habitat of wildlife is being destroyed by cattle-ranching. 

CloudForest Organics operates on 150 acres bordering the Cayambe-Coca national park,  lands previously being deforested. We are converting pastures and degraded lands as closely as possible to primary forests, but with a concentration of native edible plants. We are piloting a carbon-negative food system symbiotic with endangered habitats. 

Based on market testing and lab analyses, the star crop is tree legume Porotón (pronounced por-o-tone). It is critical for reforestation, and has 24% protein content and an amino acid structure comparable to milk.

In collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), we can combine agroforestry technologies with bioacoustics, camera trapping and animal tracking methodologies to protect wildlife. We aim to fulfill a growing global demand for organic, animal-safe superfoods, and facilitate replication throughout the high Amazon corridor. 

Today, agriculture and cattle ranching are responsible for 70% of habitat conversion in Latin America, accounting for 70% of water usage and 25% GhG emissions related to land use change. 

In the specific region of Napo where we are operating, the deforestation rate is recorded at 2,735 hectares per year, though informal estimates are higher. Growing protein demand, and lack of sensible economic alternatives on fragile, steep, nutrient-poor soils of the high Amazon cloud forest has resulted in low-productivity subsistence grazing and deforested cloud forest habitats. 

Recent dairy prices drops are opening cattle ranchers to alternatives. Reforesting with edible, endemic tree crops is beneficial because globally, plant based protein markets are rising: up over 20% in 2018 to surpass 4.6bn, outpacing overall food sale growth by 10x. We also protect Amazon headwaters; by 2030, fresh water demand is expected to exceed supply by 40%.

CloudForest Organics provides potential to switch from animal to vegetable protein on degraded lands, and ranchers would benefit from reforesting and protecting wildlife habitats and water sources. We create possibilities for bringing back cloud forests filled with ancient superfoods to improve local nutrition, provide new income sources for the local community, and save the cloud forest.

We are building an analogue forest with varying tree density with edible plants, all native species, with different percentages of target tree legume “porotón” while propagating plants for broader reforestation. Primary forest is left intact. 

We manage secondary forest growth incorporating endemic edible species like Ishpingo (Licaria applanata) an exotic cinnamon, Motilón (Hieronyma macrocarpa) a purple tree berry akin to Açaí, and high Amazon Guayusa (Ilex Spp) more delicious than the commercial guayusa. Also we are planting higher densities of Aguacatillo (Persia caerulea) for white-spectacled bears and other wildlife species based on monitoring analyses and visible evidence. 

We are initiating botanical ID, grafting and genetic selection techniques to propagate planting systems that provide greatest chance of success and replicability. In the case of porotón, this includes bean size, natural resistance, productivity, precociousness. 

Flora and fauna monitoring systems include use of bioacoustics and camera/video trapping technologies, drones, transecting, hopefully satellite imagery analysis. And we are documenting the process using drones and video software. 

Experiments with local adaptations to food processing technologies have led to delicious and nutritious cloud forest products such as poroton chips, while the flour is highly versatile.

The high Amazon montane east of the Andes where we operate, is home to 1246 of Ecuador’s 2745 land vertebrate species. Some 183 species are endemic to this cloud forest, and 80 risk extinction, including white spectacled bears, mountain tapirs, Andean eagles, and peregrine falcons. These species are being killed as ranchers invade forests and expand territory.  

In strategic partnership with WCS, last year we began installation of camera traps and observed white spectacled bears building platforms on our reforestation site of endemic tree crops, some for humans (ie. porotón, Ishpingo, motilón), others for animals (ie. Aguacatillo).  

This project aims to incorporate bioacoustics, camera traps, video surveillance technologies and eventually satellite imagery for its potential to incorporate AI with machine learning to verify impact and customize an regenerative agricultural system that produces superfoods while rebuilding wildlife habitats. 

We have begun initial outreach to 15 cattle ranching families in the area excited about ecological solutions, especially if profitable. If successful, we can replicate our production system with several hundred ranchers, and help facilitate a transition from meat and dairy to vegetable protein production.  

Park rangers protecting wildlife benefit too.

Consumers win by accessing pre-Incan, wild-safe, carbon-negative superfoods. Hear testimonials: 

https://www.cloudforestorganics.com/testimonials

CloudForest Organics realizes that an effective way to convince ranchers to change destructive land use practices which deplete forests, destroy water sources, cause erosion, and exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, is by developing an income-generating alternative. Our multi-tiered pilot centers on creating and monitoring a regenerative agroforestry model that prioritizes endemic superfoods like protein-packed porotón, addressing demand for low-carbon, healthy proteins. Ours is carbon-negative. 

Instead of SOLVING the problem, we aim to FICZ it: Food Security with forest-based ancient nutritious foods, Income Generation alternatives for ranchers, Climate Crisis reversal, and Zoonotic Pandemic mitigation by protecting endangered wildlife habitats.

CloudForest Organics´ principal innovation vis-a-vis other valuable initiatives (compared below) is our carbon-negative, biodiverse food system featuring ancient vegetable protein "porotón" to regenerate cloud forests and wildlife habitats. Many initiatives produce food outside of nature; we address the "white-spectacled bear in the room" head-on, creating a sustainable food system that is resilient because it addresses the heart of this global problem.

Combining ancestral knowledge with grafting and cloning technologies and tracking wildlife impact to assure animal-safe agroforestry, we position ourselves as leader among regenerative agriculture ventures. As the organic movement splits, and demand for extreme organics grows, CloudForest Organics is positioned to respond.

Five examples of alternative approaches:

a) Organic, fair trade cacao and coffee growers - fulfills growing niche of regenerative agriculture, helps communities make a living, but environmental impact is questionable (introducing crops, may remove natural habitat) instead of native crops that regenerate forest, offer new ingredients, and support improvements in local diet.

b) Impossible Burger - cheap accessible protein, but limited to consumers comfortable eating GMOs. Soy is environmentally destructive. CloudForest organics will offer a wild, organic, animal-safe protein. 

c) Beyond Meat - uses non-organic pea protein and some artificial ingredients. Unlike pea protein whose flavor has to be covered, porotón enhances flavors. 

d) Insect proteins -cultural bias limits market potential, may lead to mono-cropping host plant species.

e) Nut-based proteins - almond production wastes water, Porotón protects critical water sources for the Amazon as it is a critical plant for reforestation independent of its nutritional value. 

CloudForest Organics is employing animal tracking technologies to measure the impact on wildlife of our unique reforestation program. We are propagating ancient foods endemic or native to the high Amazon biological corridor, combining ancestral knowledge with clonal garden and grafting technologies proven highly successful for the Ecuadorian cacao industry. 

This selection and propagation process is critical to assure that our analogue forest is also highly productive, disease resistant while the tracking technologies provide verifiable evidence that we are truly restoring wildlife habitats, and facilitate planting strategically for the animals based on their geolocational patterns.

 Our agricultural component will include clonal gardens grafting two porotón varieties; a domesticated variety that is larger and has specific culinary uses; the second the original ancient variety that risks extinction. We will apply similar techniques for the other tree species we aim to rescue. 

For measuring animal and fauna impact, we are using traditional physical tracking with bioacoustics, camera traps, video traps (potentially in real time), and are exploring options for incorporating satellite imagery, for which AI and machine learning could be used for predicting changes in habitat restoration.

As we visually document the entire process, we use drones and audiovisual software Final Cut Pro X. 

We are also experimenting with a food processing technology to create delicious chips whose 30g serving is high in protein and vitamins but low in fat and carbohydrates.

The agricultural technology:

The genetic selection, and establishment of clonal gardens with grafted varieties is a proven technology for cacao in Ecuador and Colombia. This technology is used for cacao but little research has been done on our target varieties. We are also doing traditional breeding from seed as a control group, and planting direct from branches, a traditional method.

https://es.scribd.com/document...(document gets cut, but reference document is "Cartilla Reproduccion Cacao en Vivero 1-28") from the Midas Program. It was sponsored by USAID and the Presidential Agency for Social Action, certified by ICA, the Colombian Agricultural Institute, and has been applied successfully in Ecuador and was the model for the introduction of Sacha Gold chocolate, of which our agronomist was the consultant for this project.  

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43253775_Clonal_selection_in_cacao_based_on_early_yield_performance_of_grafted_trees

Wildlife tracking technology:

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has extensive experience using a range of technologies for animal tracking, though this project is unique in that it is considered in the context of a new agricultural model in a buffer zone between wildlife and human activity. They have had success with camera trapping and bioacoustics, in addition to traditional transecting.  Here are some links to scholarly articles on the topic. 

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=collared+satelital&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DKFCcV65oUysJ

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=tram+camp+ecuador&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DS98-EBqWF3wJ

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=coexistencia+de+puma+y+jaguar+M%C3%A9xico&hl=es&as_sdt=0,5#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DsNSgKAxSe-IJ

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=bioacoustic+and+wilife&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DPw3I7ai-4_4J

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0225

https://www.avisoft.com/sound-analysis/

https://wildlifeact.com/blog/gps-and-vhf-tracking-collars-used-for-wildlife-monitoring/

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0225

AI can also be employed for animal monitoring:

https://www.wildlife.ai/predicting-the-conservation-status-of-plant-species-worldwide/

https://www.wildlife.ai/monitoring-whales-with-satellite-imagery/

ICARUS is a novel project using satellite imagery to track animal migration, which could be considered as we work into the future to connect national parks and build edible corridors:

https://www.icarus.mpg.de/en

Our end goal is simple: restore high Amazon cloud forests and animal habitats closely to their original state.

At the core of our theory of change is reversing the negative feedback loop of subsistence farming which destroys cloud forests. 

Ancient plants go extinct. Wildlife habitats get destroyed. Carbon emissions rise. Global warming is exacerbated. As local dairy and meat prices drop, cattle ranchers expand territories further into the forest.

Economic development theory from the 1970s encouraged migration into forests to "work the land," clearing trees and developing agricultural production. Nutrient-poor soils on steep hillsides in high Amazon frontier lands offered limited economically viable options; cattle grazing for meat and dairy made sense, providing income for rural communities, while mitigating rural to urban migration. Wildlife and nature were perceived as limitless and dispensable resources; jobs and economic growth came first.

Fast forward to 2020. Climate change is palpable in the Andean corridor; poverty and joblessness are worse; water sources are being destroyed; women are undervalued in secondary roles ; at-risk white spectacled bears get shot and killed by cattle ranchers who need to protect their livelihoods; dollarization of Ecuadorian economy making Peruvian and Colombian milk and meat cheaper, hurting cattle ranching profitability.

But what else has changed? Exponential demand for wild, organic, gluten-free foods, especially vegetable proteins. Successful track record of quinoa and amaranth. Growing governmental and consumer awareness of the value of preserving forests and wildlife. A forward-looking Ecuadorian constitution that gives rights to nature. Growing influence of women in the community demanding and effecting change. Locally, people prefer organic. Some cattle farming families in Quijos have gone vegan!

Our Proof of Concept phase, carried out with expertise from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), included extensive literature reviews, meetings with cattle farming families, and cross-referencing other TNC initiatives. Successful product trials led to letters of support from Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, Nuubia chocolate and República del Cacao.

Mardoqueo Vásconez, neighboring 81-year-old cattle farmer who initiates our pitch video, sums it up: "before we chopped the forest, now we have to use the vegetation of the forest itself for survival."

Current number of people: 50 (people directly involved with this project, and the people we have already reached out to who are part of the transformation in the field).

Current number of wildlife species: approximately 100. We will have more exact numbers with the fauna inventory in the coming months. 

Number serving in 1 year: 60-120 (we will be assisting with plant stock, community outreach with educational programs on forest protection and short-term solutions for cattle ranchers).

Number served in 5 years: we would aim for 400 locally,  hopefully with thousands of consumers (including school children in healthy lunch programs consuming local forest foods). Over time, as the carbon-negative agroforestry food system expands to other lands and food products are commercialized, millions could benefit including our planet we all share.

Animals protected over the next 10-20 years (it takes about 18 years to regenerate forest from pasture lands): 1246 species of terrestrial vertebrates that live in the oriental montane east of the Andes mountains in the cloud forest. This includes 5 mammal species, 18 bird species, 13 reptiles species and 44 amphibians in danger of extinction.

Reforestation and this model needs to be viewed over a longer time horizon than 5 years. Let's look at 20 years as transformation of degraded pastures back into edible forests and wildlife habitats.

Our immediate goals are to verify that we can truly rebuild forest as close to primary as possible but also propagate edible plant varieties in densities that are productive enough to generate revenue to compete with cattle ranching. 

Of primordial importance is monitoring our processes to assure that we continue to build wildlife habitat and do not end up like most well-intentioned organic cacao and coffee projects that often displace the natural ecology and wildlife.

Barriers:

Financial: reforestation takes time and developing a model to be replicated takes even longer as we set to lead change. We want to prioritize the environmental recovery over the business, yet recognize that without profitability potential there is little hope of change. So the project requires nonrefundable resources to develop the methodology and testing, to avoid being pressured to rush into productive systems that conflict with the core goal of reforesting degraded cloud forests and recovery of wildlife habitats.

Technical: we are applying cloning and grafting technologies used for commercial species such as cacao, to lesser known forest plants. This is a learning process but critical to allow us to maximize biodiversity. As a pioneer project, we are using available technologies but hope to evolve as the technology options expand and we can afford access. 

Legal: we need to establish the best structure for a project that is so new, which has commercial potential but which truly prioritizes environmental protection over returns.These legal costs exceed current budget.

Regulatory: these forest foods require a GRAS/FDA regulatory pathway to enter international markets, and each process of each product is expensive, yet international markets require this step completed before considering investment or commercial test trials, which in turn are critical for responsibly encouraging their cultivation. Additionally we need to address issues of national patrimony of ancient plant species.

Financial:  Continue to achieve milestones to secure continued funding from current philanthropic investor and secure concessionary funds until we are positioned to consider a Series A or opt for a not-for-profit model or hybrid, with gains going completely for wildlife restoration.

Technical: While current collaboration with WCS for the monitoring systems is fantastic and our agronomist has deep experience in cloning and grafting, there are new technologies we will explore; we aim outreach to local and international universities, including MIT.

Legal: we need to secure funding for legal assistance, or identify a law firm willing to provide pro bono legal advice.

Regulatory: we need to conduct pre-feasibility research, and have identified the most appropriate bodies, but require budget to have this done. Close collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and regulatory authorities in Ecuador and abroad.

Full-time: 1

Part-time: 5

Contractors or other workers: 6

Please consider that in addition to the people working directly on this, it is a multi-faceted project that has probably another 20 people volunteering in one capacity or another to help see this project through fruition. See the institutions section, though we are also receiving support from what will become our advisory board from a range of fields.

Craig Leon, Harvard MBA (Agribusiness), Princeton B.A. Economics/WWS, Fulbright Scholar to Israel (Technion) in Industrial Engineering. Co-founded Andean Organics (1992), Ecuador's first certified organic produce business, sold at 16x multiple. Ecuador's first yellow honeydew exporter and promoted quinoa (research, planting, community outreach) in the 1980s. Award-winning documentary film director (www.futurehistoryfilms.com).

Julio Vasconez, INCAE MBA (Marketing & Finance), Agricultural Engineer from El Zamorano. Specialized in cloning and grafting cacao variety Sacha Gold TM, Cimmaron Cocoa Estates; General Manager/Partner Hypoflor flower plantation; technical consultant for República del Cacao.  

Jaime Palacios, Biologist and Environmental Scientist specialized in Biostatistics from CATIE, runs technological monitoring systems from WCS. Biodata analyst; was Biologist-researcher at National Institute of Biodiversity, Museum of Natural Sciences and Central U. of Ecuador

Gaby Chávez, IT-trained community leader in Baeza/Quijos valley where project is based, instrumental in outreach with community, successful engagement with cattle rancher families, knowledgeable of ancestral recipes for ancient cloud forest foods. Liaison with local government.

Diana Medina, Asst. Administrator Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve and Park Ranger, deep knowledge on porotón and flora critical for ecosystem recovery, instrumental in organizing community events, providing porotón plant stock.

Alexandra Saunders, CEO & Founder Nuubia Chocolate, a Bay Area artisan chocolatier (principal confectioner for Dandelion) pioneered  Wild-safe concept;  provides guidance to CloudForest Organics on US market. Meet Alexandra (on right): https://vimeo.com/342925036 )

Quijos landowners Jack Rodriguez (cattle rancher, ethnobotanical garden manager adjacent to pilot) and Juan Pablo Laso (Princeton economist, permaculturalist and chef) are collaborating with pilot field trials.

Wildlife Conservation Society -  collaboration. Last year, WCS installed first camera traps on CloudForest Organics lands and identified white-spectacled bear platforms and other species. Implementing the technology for monitoring impact of pilot on fauna, botanical plant identification, and community outreach program. 

The Nature Conservancy - helped develop proof-of-concept phase, and provided guidance on prototype product testing and environmental impact to hardwire conservation into the project. Justus Raepple, corporate finance lead who identifies and structures impact investment transactions, continues to provide critical support and contacts for project.

Chamber of Commerce Quito - supporting 5 cloud forest product experiments in 2020; instrumental in liaising with private sector and governmental organizations; source of legal consultation and project funding opportunities.

Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve - providing plant material, participating in socialization with local communities with emphasis on women's participation. Liaising with respective government bodies and providing surveillance to control deforestation directly around our project site.

Red de Guardianes de las Semillas  (Seed Guardian Network of Ecuador) - member since 2015; part of network to save ancestral seed varieties. Porotón is among top 10 at-risk species. Shares ancestral knowledge and technologies. See poroton educational tasting event: https://vimeo.com/283601743 )

República del Cacao - See video (password is RDC) https://vimeo.com/315383250  Commercial relationship for first commercial test trials (see Instagram link videos on www.cloudforestorganics.com); as local partner of Valrhona chocolate, RDC  has been instrumental in facilitating experimental product trials in the US for proof of concept.

Though at Harvard Business School I learned that business models should focus on the customer and then develop and improve products to satisfy their needs, we instead are focusing on what the cloud forest and its wildlife need for survival, then developing products to introduce to consumers.

Primordial to CloudForest Organics' business model is preservation and rebuilding of wildlife habitats and native species of flora, and assuring that any productive activity is secondary to this core goal. Initially, this has a negative impact on revenue as reforestation takes time and productivity per hectare is sacrificed to benefit biodiversity including non-commercial plantings to mimic primary forest. It also does not immediately benefit community, whose livelihood in cattle ranching is threatened by environmental protocols in collaboration with national park rangers and the Ministry of the Environment.

Environmental destruction is too high a cost; its protection merits philanthropic funding to establish the new paradigm. We are also betting that markets will perceive wild-safe, exotic ancient, delicious new foods at a premium beyond organic. And we need to provide local cattle ranchers with an exit strategy from a dying business. 

In our prototype phase we developed processed porotón in a diverse array of forms, and both B2B and B2C acceptance was strong. 

The vegetable protein market, currently over $5 billion, is projected by UBS to reach $85 billion by 2030; millenials (40% of total today) are "mindful" eaters.  Our model is designed to fulfill a future trend, replicable in other at-risk biomes, prioritizing wildlife. 

CloudForest Organics has hefty goals: to contribute towards a  healthy productive agricultural system; reverse water depletion; protect wildlife habitats; increase both flora and fauna biodiversity; and, improve lives of local farmers and wildlife. This is no easy task. I am applying to Solve because when I read the challenge question, I believed our project addresses precisely the question. 

Prior to deciding definitive structure of CloudForest Organics, we first must test and develop the agricultural and monitoring technology for carbon and habitat foot printing of the supply chain. We aim to avoid the easier solution, of simply aiming to make “porotón” the next quinoa, and instead be a thought and action leader in a new agroforestry paradigm. 

A win from MIT Solve will give us the credibility, contacts, collaboration and access to capital to become a pilot not just for the next superfood but a pilot for systemic change in a broken food system. It would expose us to  technologies that would help us capitalize on the data we are gathering. The 9 month mentorship with strategic advice, contacts and media coverage would be of great value in moving forward, especially because our approach is so new and the networking would help us tremendously.  The financial support of the prize would be invaluable to deepen our research and include, for example, more plant species in this pilot phase.

Business model/Funding and Revenue Model: CloudForest can be categorized between a non-profit and a business, for prioritizing its research and habitat protection goals. 

Consumers may pay for organic, but we need to carve a structural model that enables non-profit research continuation, which benefits a systems transformation, and position cattle ranchers who transition to vegetable protein and wildlife habitat protectors into competitive suppliers to the regenerative agricultural niche of consumer markets. 

We have not found a model that matches our goals and need legal assistance developing this. The closest was RUNA, acquired by Nestlé.

Legal/regulatory: GRAS certification and FDA compliance of new foods is complex and expensive, especially for wild and domesticated species and new processing technologies.

Solution technology/Monitoring and Evaluation: We can capitalize on knowledge in Ecuadorian cacao for porotón, but we need resources for genetic testing, and to supplement bioacoustic and camera/video trapping technology with machine learning and AI.  

1) Conservation International www.conservation.org

Kame Westerman, advisor for gender and conservation, would be able to provide us with excellent guidance as we aim to strengthen gender considerations in our conservation initiative.

2) CSAIL

Daniela Rus, director, may have suggestions on the right channel.

3) Icarus www.icarus.mpg.de

Ericson López, director of ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space), on how using  satellite systems to track wildlife could be applied to the high Amazon.

I would like to explore further ways we can track how deforestation and changes in the environment affect the communities and wildlife.

The United Nations defines a refugee as any "person" who fears persecution "for reasons of race...and finds themselves outside their home country...unable to return". In Ecuador the constitution gives rights to nature on par with persons; this definition applies to wildlife in the Amazon cloud forest forced to flee and often end up slaughtered or in the wildlife trade. Bears, tapirs, etc. risk extinction because of habitat loss caused mainly by cattle ranching, mining, and logging.

CloudForest Organics is pioneering a regenerative agroforestry model that provides refuge and rebuilds wildlife habitat in buffer zones between national parks and human activity. As the Andan Prize calls for innovation, recognition will raise awareness to help stop extermination by recognizing an agricultural system that expands, not limits, wildlife habitats.

Camera traps installed in a strategic alliance with the Wildlife Conservation Society prove that white-spectacled bears are rebuilding platforms in our  cutting-edge (not cutting-forest) regenerative agricultural model. 

Yellow pumas also are migrating to my pilot site while the national park is invaded by poachers and farmers, blocking wildlife's traditional migration routes, destroying their cloudforest home, placing their lives in danger. 

In total, this montane biome houses 1246 terrestrial vertebrates of which 183 are endemic and 80 are at risk of extinction. Endangered wildlife rights merit refugee status and inclusion.

According to the UN Environment Programme, wildlife habitat destruction, poaching and trade are key factors in increasing zoonosis emergence leading to pandemics, and 6 of 10 modern diseases are caused by zoonosis (CDC).

Women's empowerment is central to changing the mentality of chopping the forest to expand lands for cattle in the high Amazon cloud forest. 

Socialization meetings with the local Quijos community, demonstrate that while some men are changing mentality, predominantly women are most receptive to this model of change. The current deputy director of the northern zone of the national park we border, Diana Medina, is a staunch supporter. Her participation in our community outreach meetings has proved critical for empowering  women in the community.

Gabriela Chavez, though lacking formal training,  led our efforts last year with The Nature Conservancy to identify growers of porotón (our target crop) among the cattle ranching community, and also has led our research into traditional domestic use of the wild forest foods we aim to restore and use as a basis of reforestation. And she is an amazing cook transforming wild plants into spectacular dishes that could improve the nutrition in the area. In visits to our property, we have found girls to be particularly proactive in terms of planting and interest in reforestation. 

CloudForest Organics does not aim to operate in a vacuum; to facilitate significant reforestation with edible plants, women in the community have demonstrated leadership, convincing their male partners to consider a paradigm shift.

Additionally, at-risk of extinction wildlife species such as white spectacled bear mothers and their cubs need a safe environment for survival. Their construction of platforms, documented by our strategic partner Wildlife Conservation Society, proves this transformation is possible.  

The Sacred Headwaters of the Amazon encompasses an area of 30 million HA of Rainforest and is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. It is home to half a million indigenous people from 20 different nationalities and contains approximately 3.8 billion MT of carbon.

The Quijos watershed in Ecuador’s Napo Province is one of the Amazon's high altitude tributaries and truly where the waters of the world’s greatest river are born. Due to its high biodiversity and role in providing key ecosystem services as well as the ongoing threats of deforestation and degradation, this region is of high priority for reforestation; especially in ways that provide local communities with alternative livelihood opportunities to the cattle ranching that predominates.

With the AI for Humanity Prize, we can use machine learning and AI to track changes in large areas inhabited by numerous wildlife species and measure and predict changes in their habitat based on the agricultural systems we are implementing and thus document a productive agroforestry system in one of Earth's most endangered and important biomes.

The AI for Humanity Prize would enable us to use AI to restore nature, restore animal life, restore the high Amazon, and from this restoration help create a replicable agribusiness model that dramatically shifts the food system towards carbon-negative food that also builds wildlife habitats.