Social program

To be successful and sustainable in the long term the Witzara Project must involve and work with the local community. Our ambition is to create a true synergy between the development of the plantations and the well being of the local population. Several aspects are contemplated:

1) New Business opportunities

Many natives own land that is currently used only for low output extensive cattle growing. By training natives on high potential income and environmental friendly business, such as afforestation of savannahs, wood processing and intensive eco-friendly agriculture, Witzara aims at expanding the afforested area to some 40.000 has and to improve the living status of the community.

2) Creation of jobs

The soil of the Vichada is considered of  poor quality for traditional agriculture and there are currently very few work alternatives. The level of literacy is quite low and a vast majority live under the threshold of poverty.

The objective of Witzara is to create as many jobs as possible; not only in the nurseries and plantations, but by developing the local transformation of wood into long lasting items such as planks, posts and poles.

3) Fight against rural exile

Due to the lack of work alternatives in the area and few education possibilities, many people decide to move to the large cities in the interior in the country in the hope to find better living conditions. Unfortunately, they only grow the huge populations living below the poverty level in the outskirts of the main cities.

By providing decent and well paid jobs and by educating them in sustainable agricultural and cattle rising methods, our objective is to increase the number of people that can make a living in the area, thus reducing any incentive to flee to the cities

4) Involvement of women

As in many developing countries, women must carry the burden of rising their families, while working full time at home and some times in the fields. They have no chance to progress and little chance to get access to educations or jobs.

In the context of Witzara, we have identified several activities that can be targeted to the women such as work in the nurseries (preparation of the seeds and seeding beds, care of the seedling, etc) and production of high value vegetables. This is the first time ever for many of them that they receive an income for their work, and experience shows that women are very wise in using their resources to improve the living quality of their household. By involving the women, Witzara objective is to raise the level of awareness, education and well being of the whole community.

5) Education in sustainable farming

Currently most of the staple food such as maize, plantains, manioc, vegetables, is transported from the inland, more than 500 Km away, due to the lack of local production. This has not only a negative environmental impact, but limits the access to proper food due the high prices.

Despite the poor quality of the soil, by using good farming practices it is possible to cultivate most of the basic needs locally, this creates additional jobs and improves the access to healthier food at lower prices. In the context of Witzara, we are training local people in the cultivation of maize and tomatoes and expect to add more crops as the project evolves.

6) Education in sustainable high output cattle growing

Despite being the region a cattle growing area, the current production of meat and milk is rather low due to the lack of a minimum of technologies to increase the output. The Witzara project envisages the education of local population in more ecological techniques, such as preventing pastures fires and some other, in order to increase the profitability of their business and reduce the environmental impact

7) Education in bio-diversity as a possible income source

Local fauna, such as pumas, anacondas and many other animals are perceived as a treat to the population and their animals and therefore hunted until almost extinguishing some of them. Witzara, along with other environmental and social organizations, is promoting the education of the local communities in the understanding of the wild animals’ biology, so they understand the real risk and how to prevent it, without killing the animals. In the other hand, the program aims at getting resources for wild animal conservation and get the natives to understand that many people around the globe are willing to pay to the communities if they preserve/take care of the wild animals (eco tourism, etc)