TURNING FARMERS INTO
ECOSYSTEM RESTORERS
Tackling poverty, deforestation & biodiversity loss
in the forests of Ecuador.
WHAT WE DO
We partner with local families in the Amazon and Andes to restore their forests and re-story their identities.
For centuries, Indigenous communities have been forced to live a story based on a colonial legacy, a story that teaches them to destroy their forests and extract its natural resources.
We provide economic incentives that build a pathway to transition from toxic monoculture, cattle ranching, and deforestation to earning a living as ecological restorers.
We use creative education to marry local ancestral wisdom with modern sustainability practices, ensuring food security, economic stability, and cultural survival.
WHY WE DO IT
At Humans for Abundance, we are addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time: the loss of biodiversity and the devastation of tropical forests.
If we do nothing, we risk further destabilizing ecosystems, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere, and deepening poverty in rural communities.
But there is hope!
By partnering with indigenous and local families who live in the heart of these forests, we are creating powerful solutions that go beyond ecological restoration. Through sustainable practices, these communities are not only restoring their lands but also revitalizing their cultural identities and ensuring socio-economic justice. They are blending ancestral knowledge with modern science to protect biodiversity, mitigate climate change, and create long-term economic stability.
As a co-restorer, your support directly funds this work. Together, we are regenerating ecosystems, revitalizing cultures, improving food security, and lifting communities out of poverty—creating a future where people and nature thrive together.
OUR RESTORER FAMILIES
Local families earn salaries by taking on a new job as ecosystem restorers.
Our restorers are reconnecting with their ancestral traditions and their forests.
Today they collect native seeds, propagate them in nurseries and plant seedlings on their lands. They improve their health and wellbeing by cultivating and consuming their own organic & medicinal foods. They trade their crops with other communities & sell high quality products in local markets. They (especially women and girls) have access to education that empowers them as political leaders & entrepreneurs.
Inés
“Before, I used to buy my family’s food from a truck that visits our community. I spent too much money. I now have my own ancestral food forest from where I harvest over 40 organic products every month.”
Rosa
“There is more life in my community now. The young people no longer leave, and I can teach them how to make necklaces and baskets with seeds and forest fibers, just as I learned from my grandparents.”
Angelina
“I am very happy to be a restorer. Now I take care of my forest and plant more food for my family. Before, people only came to buy wood from us. It was the only way we could make money.”
Mayra
“Humans for Abundance has reopened our eyes. Once again we are walking the paths of our ancestors as caretakers of our forest. Our children are staying in our community, learning our ways”
BECOME THEIR CO-RESTORER
You can play a pivotal role in transforming the Amazon and Andes into thriving ecosystems.
Your contribution empowers indigenous families to become guardians of their heritage, enabling them to restore and protect their ancestral lands. By providing essential resources, you help these communities implement sustainable practices that preserve biodiversity and cultural traditions. Together, restorers and co-restorers create a lasting impact, ensuring that these vital environments flourish for generations to come.
Role of the RESTORERS
Restore degraded land by using regenerative agriculture and proven reforestation methods to bring back key ecosystems essential to all humans.
They improve food security and nutrition for their families while caring for the planet's wellbeing.
Salary: 4 times more than before.
Your role as their CO-RESTORER
Partner with local families in the Amazon and other key ecosystems to lower your carbon footprint and increase biodiversity.
Together, you create a more beautiful, healthy and biodiverse planet.
Investment: $8 USD to $40 USD per month
Will you join us as a co-restorer?
"Since joining the Humans for Abundance program, I've embraced all the cultural values of life. I've also learned how to cultivate a variety of plant species. I've discovered many unique beings in the forest, including medicinal plants, timber trees, and food plants. I am thankful to everyone who has placed their trust in me."
Mercedes, Mushullakta Community
President of her community’s restoration association.
POPULAR MONTHLY PLANS
RESTORATION
12$Every monthHelp our restorers re-introduce native tree species and restore soil and water sourcesINDIGENOUS YOUTH EDUCATION
30$Every monthFoster cultural identity, community, native language and land-based learning.REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
15$Every monthEnhance food security and restore land through the creation of sustainable agroecosystems
You can increase the demand for restoration services.
Funds from these monthly plans are distributed directly among the Restorers featured on this website. The more people that subscribe, the more local farmers we can turn into restorers.
Dalila Pinto, Portugal
A co-restorer who visited
one of our restorer's forest
"Humans For Abundance is like a very rare and precious gem. In today’s hyper-technological world, with all its limitless connectivity, there are connections that are fragile and take much hard work to build.
The reality is that some remote forest communities are bringing about changes that we, in our busy urban worlds, don’t know about and have difficulty accessing. Humans For Abundance is a bridge providing precisely that type of connection, in this case with Omar Tello, a local conservation and champion.
What stood out for me during my experience with Omar Tello was his enormous knowledge, absolute love and respect for the land combined with energy to find out more and to share knowledge with the community. Omar has dedicated his life to restoring the forest and is a shining example of the power of human endeavor."
HOW WE DO IT
Our comprehensive approach creates lasting TRIPLE impact through a decade-long transformation.
Achieving social, economic and environmental change requires technical training in ecosystem restoration and regenerative agriculture as well as education programming for adults and children in community empowerment, leadership, project development and conflict transformation. Our tested 10-year process includes dynamic methods such as Theater of the Oppressed and other embodied arts and narrative-based tools.
A bird's-eye view of our process:
It begins by identifying communities with a strong desire to restore their lands and include all their members in the restoration process, especially women and girls.
Once identified, we provide monthly payments to participating families. These funds incentivize the immediate switch from monoculture or cattle ranching to agroforestry and ecological restoration.
As the forest recovers, the community begins to collectively heal by participating in Theater of the Oppressed and other unlearning methods. Together, they identify and transform their conflicts and change their "we lack" mindsets. They also work with our intercultural education program, Rehearsing Change, to uncover centuries of wounds caused by neglect, racism, and oppression. Transforming lands and identities brings greater motivation to lift themselves out of poverty.
We guide them into regenerative agriculture and bio-entrepreneurship to produce organic food without destroying their ecosystem. With time, they participate in our commercialization network, trading and selling their products to other communities. This prepares them for a self-sustainable future for generations to come.
As communities become convinced by this
new, yet ancestral way of life, they see the need to share it with their children. This is when we implement the Forest School, an innovative forest-based education system that blends indigenous knowledge with modern curricula, such as math, biology and Spanish. The schooling ensures the preservation of cultural identities and prepares children to thrive in a complex, intercultural world. It also prepares the new generations to be forest stewards for life.
The final step in our approach is turning participants into leaders and educators. They spread their knowledge and regenerative practices to other communities, creating a sustainable trend.
"I am very grateful to be part of the FOREST SCHOOL because it allows me to remain in my community and learn how to protect the forest just as my ancestors did.
Simultaneously, I am studying mathematics, English, and Spanish thanks to our access to the internet."
Bryan Narváez
A student of the Forest School
Kichwa community of Mushullakta
Napo, Ecuador
TESTIMONIALS FROM CO-RESTORERS
NATALIA ACEVEDO
"I was so happy to see the trees that I am keeping protected for the next 12 months. Thank you so much! With everything that’s going on in the world at the moment this feels like one positive action that I’m taking to help the planet. Keep up the good work and thank you for all you do."
DAVID ESOPI
"I am continuously impressed with your organization, I'm proud to support these programs. I hope it makes a difference for the environmental community as well!"
SOL PAKES
"I'm proud to be a co-restorer in Humans for Abundance. Knowing that my investment restores vital rainforests while also providing meaningful economic opportunities for indigenous communities...that's a win-win."
IN THE MEDIA
Learn what others are saying about our work.
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OUR PARTNERS
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