Runa Foundation

Last updated
Runa Foundation
Founded2010
Type Non-profit organization
Focus Conservation
Community Development
Indigenous People
Location
Area served
Amazon and Tropical Andes
Key people
Tyler Gage, Eliot Logan-Hines, Dan MacCombie
Revenue
$833,134 USD (2016)
Website http://www.runafoundation.org

Runa Foundation is a public, non-profit organization with offices in Brooklyn, NY; Quito, Ecuador; Archidona, Ecuador; and Tarapoto, Peru. Runa Foundation's stated mission is to "create new value for tropical forests that benefit local people and the forest ecosystem". [1] Runa Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation registered in the state of Rhode Island.

Contents

History

Runa Foundation was co-founded in 2010 by Tyler Gage, Dan MacCombie, and Eliot Logan-Hines. [2] [3] [4] Runa Foundation was created as the non-profit arm of the Runa Group which is a hybrid social enterprise consisting of both non-profit and for-profit arms. [5] [6] Runa's innovative model is designed to create big impact through the creation of new supply chains, [7] while simultaneously assuring that these supply chains deliver tangible social and environmental benefits [8] [9] to local farmers and the forest. [10] [11]

In 2013, actor Channing Tatum became a major supporter of Runa Foundation after a long adventure into the Ecuadorian Amazon to visit the Sapara people. [12] [13]

Program areas

Landscapes Program – This program looks at the intersection between agriculture, forestry, and conservation using a holistic landscape approach. [14] Runa Foundation focuses particularly on the use of agroforestry [15] [16] and sustainable forest management as tools to conserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This program also includes projects related to reforestation, wildlife management, [17] GIS mapping, territorial mapping, and assuring indigenous land rights.

Livelihoods Program – This program focuses on improving the livelihoods of local people through income generation, [18] capacity building workshops, and financial literacy training. [19] [20] This program specifically targets farmers associations or cooperatives to support them in Fair Trade certification. [21] [22]

Plant Research – Runa Foundation works with indigenous groups in the Amazon to document and research their vast knowledge of medicinal plant uses. [23] [24] Runa Foundation has also helped to support the creation of PlantMed.Org dedicated to the creation of Amazonian research clinics in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon. [25]

Education – Runa Foundation provides educational opportunities for future social entrepreneurs and environmental leaders through its internship program. [26] Runa Foundation has partnered with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito [27] and the Yale School of Forestry [28] to conduct ongoing research related to forest conservation and agroforestry management. In 2014, Runa Foundation established a research fellowship with Yale University's Tropical Resources Institute. [29]

Funding

Runa Foundation is primarily funded from government grants, private foundations, and individual contributions. In 2014, Runa Foundation's total revenue was US$978,000. [30]

Funders of Runa Foundation include:

Related Research Articles

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The Amazon rainforest, also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocoa bean</span> Fatty seed of Theobroma cacao which is the basis of chocolate

The cocoa bean or simply cocoa, also called cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter can be extracted. Cocoa beans native to the Amazon rainforest are the basis of chocolate, and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazonas (Brazilian state)</span> State of Brazil

Amazonas is a state of Brazil, located in the North Region in the north-western corner of the country. It is the largest Brazilian state by area and the ninth-largest country subdivision in the world. It is the largest country subdivision in South America, being greater than the areas of Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay combined. Mostly located in the Southern Hemisphere, Amazonas is the third-largest country subdivision in the Southern Hemisphere after the Australian states of Western Australia and Queensland. Located entirely in the Western Hemisphere, it is the fourth-largest country subdivision in the Western Hemisphere after Greenland, Nunavut, and Alaska. If independent, Amazonas could become the sixteenth-largest country in the world, slightly larger than Mongolia. Neighbouring states are Roraima, Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Acre. It also borders the nations of Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. This includes the Departments of Amazonas, Vaupés and Guainía in Colombia, as well as the Amazonas state in Venezuela, and the Loreto Region in Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuar</span> Ethnic group of Ecuador

The Shuar, also known as Jivaro, are an indigenous ethnic group that inhabits the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazonia. They are famous for their hunting skills and their tradition of head shrinking, known as Tzantsa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esmeraldas, Ecuador</span> Place in Esmeraldas, Ecuador

Esmeraldas is a coastal city in northwestern Ecuador. It is the seat of the Esmeraldas Canton and capital of the Esmeraldas Province. It has an international sea port and a small airport. Esmeraldas is the major seaport of northwestern Ecuador, and it lies on the Pacific coast at the mouth of the Esmeraldas River. It is exactly at the antipodes of Padang, Indonesia. The city is the principal trading hub for the region's agricultural and lumber resources, and is the terminus of the 313-mile (504-km) Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline from the oil fields in northeastern Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasuní National Park</span> National park in Ecuador

Yasuni National Park is in Ecuador with an area of 9,823 km2 between the Napo and Curaray Rivers in Napo, Pastaza, and Orellana Provinces in Amazonian Ecuador. The national park lies within the Napo moist forests ecoregion and is primarily rain forest. The park is about 250 km from Quito and was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1989. It is within the claimed ancestral territory of the Huaorani indigenous people. Yasuni is also home to two uncontacted indigenous tribes, the Tagaeri and the Taromenane. Many indigenous people use the riverways within the park as a main mode of travel. Several waterways in the area are tributaries that lead into the Amazon River, including blackwater rivers high in tannins boasting vastly different floral composition than the main riverways. The spine-covered palm, Bactrisriparia, and aquatic plant Montrichardia linifera typically line the edges of these slow moving rivers, often referred to as Igapós.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chullachaki</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute</span>

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<i>Ilex guayusa</i> Species of holly

Ilex guayusa is a species of tree of the holly genus, native to the Amazon Rainforest. One of four known caffeinated holly trees, the leaves of the guayusa tree are harvested fresh and brewed like a tea for their stimulative effects.

<i>Dendropsophus marmoratus</i> Species of frog

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Brazil</span> Conversion of forest to non-forest for human use in Brazil

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilacine amazon</span> Subspecies of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazonian Kichwas</span> Group of people indigenous to the Ecuadorian Amazon

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References

  1. ↑ "Runa Foundation's Mission". Runa Foundation Website.
  2. ↑ Wong, Curtis. "Eliot Logan-Hines Hopes To Save The Rainforest And 'Go Beyond' Fair Trade". Huffington Post.
  3. ↑ "Runa Foundation: Fair Trade and Agroforestry in the Amazon". Youth Movements.
  4. ↑ Logan-Hines, Eliot. "Interview – Founding Runa". Start Up Grind. Google for Entrepreneurs.
  5. ↑ "Runa: Creating Value in the Amazon" (PDF). William Davidson Institute. University of Michigan.
  6. ↑ "How Runa is Empowering Ecuadorian Farmers". Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. Hult International Business School.
  7. ↑ Imbaquingo, Olga (August 28, 2010). "El té de guayusa se exporta a EE.UU". El Comercio.
  8. ↑ Patterson, Britany (June 21, 2016). "Can Tea Help Save the Amazon?". Scientific American. Climate Wire (Conversations).
  9. ↑ Logan-Hines, Eliot; et al. "Value chain innovation in the Amazon: Ilex guayusa as a new model for sustainable trade" (PDF). FAO. World Forestry Congress.
  10. ↑ Segran, Elizabeth. "How Two Liberal Arts Students Created A Million-Dollar, Rainforest-Saving Tea Company". Fast Company.
  11. ↑ "Runa Tea's Low-Calorie, High-Impact Model: With revenues reaching $1M Runa is generating income for 2,000 farming families". Next Billion. William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
  12. ↑ OLYA, GABRIELLE. "Channing Tatum on His Life-Changing Trip to the Ecuadorian Rain Forest and Why It Inspired Him to Give Back". people.com. People Magazine.
  13. ↑ "How Ecuadorians & the Runa Foundation Have Inspired Channing Tatum". LatinOne.
  14. ↑ Duenas, Juan (November 2013). "RUNA GUAYUSA – DESARROLLO DE UN SISTEMA DE CULTIVO AGROFORESTAL DE Ilex guayusa Loes" (PDF). Primer Encuentro de Bosques, Recursos Geneticos Forestales, y Agroforesteria.
  15. ↑ Montagnini, Florencia (2015). Sistemas Agroforestales: Funciones Productivas, Socioeconomicas, y Ambientales (PDF). Colombia/Costa Rica: CATIE. pp. 179–201.
  16. ↑ Wei, Clarissa. "Inside the Food Forests of the Amazon Rainforest". VICE. VICE.
  17. ↑ Cummins, Ian. "Agouti on the wedding menu: Bushmeat harvest, consumption and trade in a post-frontier region of the Ecuadorian Amazon" (PDF). CIFOR.
  18. ↑ Weissmann, Emma. "Ecuador's "Superleaf" Tea: Could It Replace Your Afternoon Coffee?". National Geographic. National Geographic.
  19. ↑ "The dream of a sustainable future for the Amazon". SIANI. Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative.
  20. ↑ Pineiro, Aliana (November 2013). "Ilex Guayusa COMO MOTOR PARA EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE EN LOS SISTEMAS AGROFORESTALES EN LA AMAZONÍA OCCIDENTAL" (PDF). Primero Encuentro de Bosques, Recursos Geneticos Forestales, y Agroforesteria.
  21. ↑ "RUNA AND THE KICHWA BRING FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED GUAYUSA TO THE WORLD". Fair Trade USA.
  22. ↑ Wood, Samantha (Spring 2013). "FAIR TRADE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: A CASE STUDY OF THE KICHWA IN ECUADOR". Florida State University. Department of Social Sciences.
  23. ↑ Duenas, Juan; et al. (February 2016). "Amazonian Guayusa (Ilex guayusa Loes.): A Historical and Ethnobotanic Overview". Economic Botany. 70: 85–91. doi:10.1007/s12231-016-9334-2. S2CID   18354079.
  24. ↑ Gregoire, Carolyn. "Scientists Put Shamanic Medicine Under The Microscope". Huffington Post.
  25. ↑ Varolli, Regina. "An "Uber Ambitious" New Vision for Saving the Amazon". Huffington Post.
  26. ↑ Goldfine, Rebecca. "Michael Butler '17 Helps Develop Rainforest Products to Benefit Local Communities". Bowdoin. Bowdoin College.
  27. ↑ "Taller Ilex guayusa" (PDF). USFQ. Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
  28. ↑ "Yale in the Amazon". Global Forest Atlas. Yale University.
  29. ↑ "Runa Foundation Fellowship". Yale University. Tropical Resources Institutie.
  30. ↑ "Non Profit Financial Profile". GuideStar.
  31. ↑ "Grants Awarded to Runa Foundation". MacArthur Foundation.
  32. ↑ "Profile: Tyler Gage". Mulago Foundation. Mulago Foundation.
  33. ↑ PRODEL, ACDI/VOCA (May 2011). "USAID Success Story" (PDF).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  34. ↑ Crespo, Patricio. "La Guayusa Trayectoria y Sentido".
  35. ↑ Reinhardt, Sylvia. "Developing a production and sales strategy for guayusa". GIZ.
  36. ↑ "CAF promueve la producción de guayusa para el desarrollo local en la Amazonia ecuatoriana". CAF. June 8, 2011.
  37. ↑ "Community Action Grants". Rainforest Action Network.
  38. ↑ "Profile: Eliot Logan-Hines". Rufford Foundation. Rufford Foundation.
  39. ↑ Nourish International. "Runa Foundation Partnership". Nourish International.
  40. ↑ "Amazonian Energy: Building climate resistance through diversified agriculture". IDB. Inter-American Development Bank.
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