Biodiversity Project

The Biodiversity Project was initiated in the year 2000 by some Secondary Schools in Verona with the aim of informing students and citizens alike and to raise funds to buy portions of rain forest, the only way to save this environment from destruction. The students produce and sell small trees typical of their region to collect the money necessary to buy rain forest in Ecuador. Furthermore other funds have been collected by selling little objects of vegetal ivory made by the indios of Ecuador. The vegetal ivory comes from seeds of a palm-tree (Phytelephas aequatorialis) wide-spread in the tropical forests of Ecuador. This species, commonly called TAGUA, produce nuts about the size of 5-6 cm, used to make buttons and other small objects. In the last years vegetal ivory has been used also for kraft products and represents an important opportunity for the economy of the Native Ecuatorian people, and allows an eco-sustainable management of the resources of the equatorial forests.

Professor Giovanni Onore, missionary, entomologist, Director of the Museum of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador (Quito) and President of the “Otonga Foundation” has been campaigning against the distruction of primary rain forest in Ecuador since 1995. Thanks to Prof. Onore 1.500 hectares of virgin forest (Otonga Forest) with all its biological wealth have already been acquired. Every year many new species are described from this part of equatorial forest.

The Secondary Schools involved in the Biodiversity Project have so far collected more than 80.000 € for the Otonga Foundation. This money permitted the acquisition of 40 hectares of Otonga Forest and support the economy of several indios families, skilled craftsmen of tagua manifacture.