Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) is a Bolivian non-governmental organization dedicated to environmental education and the care of sick, mistreated and abandoned wildlife. It is the country's largest destination for confiscated wildlife and currently cares for around 500 animals, most of them rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.[2]
The organization also carries out environmental activism and education about animal rights and conservation. The name comprises words from three indigenous languages meaning sun, star and moon in the Quechua, Aymara and Chiriguano Guaraní languages.
CIWY is supported by international volunteers that stay for a minimum of two weeks.[3][4]
History
In 1986, Juan Carlos Antezana and Tania "Nena" Baltazar began working with impoverished youth in a small neighborhood in El Alto, La Paz. They worked to support the needs of miners' children who had relocated to the area, providing alternative education including carpentry workshops, tailoring, horticulture in greenhouses and other activities.
As part of the education program, the children were taken on field trips to the Yungas region of La Paz. During one such trip, the children witnessed the effect of man's impact on the environment and the effect that slash-and-burn agriculture has on wildlife. This deeply affected the children, and they agreed to create an environmental movement with the aim of showing the public the negative effect of destroying the rainforest and other activities that cause damage to nature. Marches were held in La Paz, Oruro, Santa Cruz, Sucre and Cochabamba. These youth formed an integral part of CIWY's early attempts to raise awareness of environmental destruction.
During another field trip, the children witnessed blatant abuse of wildlife: they found a spider monkey in the city of Rurrenabaque kept in a local bar. Antezana and Baltazar rescued, treated, and released the monkey. However, the monkey returned to Rurrenabaque and was again captured. Antezana and Baltazar realized a wildlife sanctuary would be necessary to protect these animals. CIWY was formally organized in 1992. The organization worked with and cared for rescued animals in a Japanese garden in La Paz until 1996, when the mayor of Villa Tunari granted conditional use of Parque Machía for the organization's rescue efforts.
Friends of Inti Wara Yassi (FIWY) became a registered UK charity in 2008, with the famous primatologist Jane Goodall as its Patron. CIWY enjoyed the privilege of being visited by Dr. Goodall in 2009. She visited Parque Machía and Parque Ambue Ari to support CIWY’s work with animals and the environment.
CIWY was devastated during the COVID-19 pandemic as international volunteers were unable to travel.[5]
In 2021, The Puma Years, a memoir by Laura Coleman was published about Coleman's time with CIWY at Parque Ambue Ari. It became a number-one bestseller on Amazon upon release. Proceeds from the book are being donated to CIWY.[5]
Mission
CIWY rescues, rehabilitates and cares for wild animals seized from illegal trafficking, and fights to end the animal trade through educational programs, research projects and public actions. Through this work, CIWY aims to inspire humankind to uphold values that promote conservation and the recuperation of biodiversity.
Vision
CIWY's vision is a world in which wildlife thrives and lives freely in its natural habitat, free from the dangers of poaching and the destruction of its ecosystems.
Objectives
CIWY's primary objectives are:
To defend the environment and conserve biodiversity. To rescue and rehabilitate wildlife that has fallen victim to trafficking and abuse. To responsibly manage and care for rescued wild animals. To coordinate and conduct research and education programs that support our conservation efforts.
Work
Howler monkey under CIWY's care at Parque Ambue Ari
As Bolivia’s leading organisation in the fight for animal rights and wildlife conservation, CIWY works to combat the illegal wildlife trade and the destruction of the environment. CIWY collaborates with the Bolivian authorities to enforce the law, to seize and rescue animals from poachers and merchants, as well as zoos when conditions do not meet legal requirements. CIWY also rehabilitates wild animals that were injured by fires or other disasters. Additionally, CIWY conducts educational projects locally and nationally, as well as research projects, and scientific dissemination.
Wildlife sanctuaries
CIWY operates three wildlife sanctuaries distributed throughout Bolivia: Machía, Ambue Ari and Jacj Cuisi. The sanctuaries are managed by a team of professionals and volunteers from around the world..[6][4][3]
Parque Machía
Parque Machía is situated in Villa Tunari in Chapare Province, in the department of Cochabamba. In 1996 the municipal council of Villa Tunari granted CIWY use of the park's land under the condition that CIWY looked after it, as it was under threat from deforestation and poaching. The sanctuary specializes in the care of spider monkeys and capuchin monkeys.
In 2009, the municipal council of Villa Tunari approved the construction of a road that would cut through the park in order to improve access to communities.[7] Despite an international campaign against the road, construction began in 2010. The road has loosened ground soil, causing landslides during the heavy rainy seasons, not only making the road impassable for much of the year, but also contributing to further loss of habitat for CIWY's efforts. In 2009, Jane Goodall visited Villa Tunari to speak against the destruction of the road.[8] In 2010, four pumas were relocated to Parque Jacj Cuisi as a result of land loss due to the road's construction.
Volunteer dormitory at Parque Ambue Ari
Parque Ambue Ari
Parque Ambue Ari is an 800-hectare wildlife sanctuary located in the department of Santa Cruz between the cities of Santa Cruz and Trinidad. Unlike the land used in Parque Machia, Parque Ambue Ari's is owned by CIWY. It was purchased in 2002 from a local cacao farmer. The sanctuary was opened in order to work more independently and to house an increasing number of rescued wildlife. 'Ambue Ari' means "new day" in the native language Guarayo.
The natural habitat within Parque Ambue Ari is an ideal location to care for jaguars, pumas, ocelots, exotic birds, tapirs, coati and red howler monkeys; however, local farmers have encroached on the sanctuary's land and hunters have been found within its territory.
The organization is in charge of the medical aspects of all animals while volunteers help by cleaning cages, feeding the animals, providing enrichment, and assisting in construction or maintenance.
Welcome sign at Parque Jacj Cuisi
Parque Jacj Cuisi
In 2008, additional land was purchased outside Rurrenabaque to found a third sanctuary: Parque Jacj Cuisi. Jacj Cuisi encompasses 300 hectares located approximately 35km from the village of San Buenaventura. Its location is important for the development of CIWY's work, as it is linked to the Madidi National Park, a 1.8-million hectare reserve and an ideal land for reintroduction programs. 'Jacj Cuisi' means "land of dreams" in the native language Mosetan Tacana.[3]
Education
CIWY's beginnings were in educating poor children of El Alto, La Paz. Through the years, as CIWY's work began to encompass wildlife care and environmentalism, the type of education provided changed to focus on these topics. Today, CIWY visits cities and villages throughout Bolivia to put on educational programs for youth.
CIWY has the support of Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute. In October 2009, Jane Goodall visited Parque Machía and Parque Ambue Ari.[9] CIWY is also supported by One Voice, a French animal rights organization; and The Monkey Sanctuary, a British organization that cares for rescued monkeys. In 2011, Luis Morales visited and assisted The Monkey Sanctuary.
In 2010, Baltazar and CIWY were again recognized, this time by One Voice[fr], a French animal rights organization. After participating with One Voice in a silent protest for animal rights below the Eiffel Tower, One Voice offered Baltazar a donation to be used for the purchase of a vehicle. In 2011, the funds were used to purchase CIWY's first vehicle.
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, after 60 years' studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. Goodall first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe its chimpanzees in 1960.
Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage is a sanctuary for chimpanzees, located in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. Chimfunshi started as a family-run wildlife orphanage, and today Chimfunshi is managed by a board of trustees to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sanctuary. Chimfunshi was founded in 1983 when a game ranger brought a badly wounded infant chimpanzee to the cattle ranch of David and Sheila Siddle. The Siddles nursed that chimp – named "Pal" – back to health, thereby establishing a tradition of care and respect that forms the legacy of the sanctuary. Once word of Pal's recovery spread, the Siddles were inundated with orphaned chimpanzees. Although many of the chimpanzees were confiscated from poachers who attempted to smuggle the infants into Zambia for sale as pets, an equally large number were rescued from dilapidated zoos and circuses from all over Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. With over 145 chimpanzees, Chimfunshi is now one of the largest chimpanzee sanctuaries in the world.
Madidi is a national park in the upper Amazon river basin in Bolivia. It was established in 1995 with a total land area of 18,958km². Together with the nearby protected areas Manuripi-Heath and Apolobamba and the Manu Biosphere Reserve (Peru), Madidi is part of one of the largest protected areas in the world.
Villa Tunari or Tunari is a location in the department of Cochabamba, Bolivia. It is the seat of the Villa Tunari Municipality, the third municipal section of the Chapare Province. According to the census 2012 the population was 3,213 in the town which is an increment from 2,510 registered during the 2001 census.
Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, is an island sanctuary in Uganda, dedicated to the care of orphaned eastern chimpanzees, that have been rescued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Many of the chimpanzees were rescued from poachers and are unlikely to survive reintroduction to the wild.
Chalalán is an ecological lodge of the Indigenous People of San José de Uchupiamonas dedicated to ethnic ecotourism. It is located in the Madidi National Park in Bolivia. The cabins are located in the vicinity of Chalalán Lake, on the south bank of the Tuichi River, about 100 km south west of Rurrenabaque.
The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global non-profit wildlife and environment conservation organization headquartered in Washington, DC. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Jane Goodall and Genevieve di San Faustino (1919-2011). The institute's mission is to improve the treatment and understanding of primates through public education and legal representation, to protect their habitats in partnership with local communities, and to recruit and train young people for these missions.
Inti is the Incan sun god. Inti may also refer to:
Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory is a protected area and Native Community Land in Bolivia situated between the north of the Cochabamba Department and the south of the Beni Department. It protects part of the Bolivian Yungas ecoregion. The indigenous people living within the park belong to the Tsimané, Yuracaré, and Mojeño-Trinitario peoples. The southern portion of the park has been colonized by agricultural settlers, primarily coca farmers, since the 1970s. The Bolivian government estimates that 10% of the park has been deforested by their presence.
Carole Cooney Noon was an American anthropologist and primatologist best known for founding Save the Chimps, a Florida non-profit chimpanzee sanctuary that is the largest such sanctuary in the world as of 2009.
Chimps Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) animal sanctuary located at P-B Ranch near Bend, Oregon, United States.
Tania "Nena" Baltazar Lugones is the co-founder and president of Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi, a non-governmental organization that runs three wildlife sanctuaries in Bolivia. Since the organization's founding in 1992, Baltazar has grown the organization from a single sanctuary with a few rescued animals to become Bolivia's foremost wildlife protection body, caring for more than 500 animals from fifty different species. Animals there have been rescued from illegal wildlife tade, habitat loss, and illegal hunting.
Ana Rosa Tornero (1907–1984) was a Bolivian writer, journalist, teacher, social reformer and a feminist. She published the first feminist magazine in Bolivia and was one of the founders of the first feminist organization in the country.
Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR) is a Costa Rica–based non-governmental non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1999 to plant trees in depleted areas of the country, and to rescue, rehabilitate and, when possible, release the animals who live in these forests. Since its inception, Kids Saving the Rainforest has planted or is in the process of planting nearly 100,000 trees and rescued and rehabilitated 3,000 wild animals, two-thirds of which have been released back into the wild.
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