Las Lianas

*Las Lianas*	Resource Center for Science, Culture, & Environment
	Dedicated to sustainable development, environmental preservation, and cultural survival through partnerships with indigenous peoples.
Home Projects News About us Links Español	The Amazon rainforest has great biological diversity and ecological importance to the entire world. It is also home to a culturally diverse group of indigenous peoples who have lived sustainably there for centuries. The Amazon offers important resources to the world, ranging from new medicines to new perspectives for understanding our relationship with our planet. Yet both the environment and native cultures are threatened by rapid and destructive development including oil and mining, logging, and unsustainable farming. Las Lianas uses science, law and traditional knowledge to develop projects that sustain the region’s cultural and biological diversity. Our projects are varied, ranging from direct technical, legal, and financial assistance to communities working for sustainable food production, environmental protection, and cultural autonomy, to broader analysis of issues such as the impact of extractive industries or the application of collective rights. Our partnerships extend from the Secoya villagers on the Aguarico River to the regional and national Federations that represent thousands of Amazonian people in Ecuador.
		Buy tropical bird note cards Give a fish pond or 1000 Fish! Buy Secoya Art
*Program Areas*
Sustainable Development	Environmental Defense
Indigenous and local peoples are faced with a rapidly changing world, where much that is presented as development is destructive of both traditional cultures and their lands. Yet cultural survival requires change and traditional communities are actively engaged seeking development that is appropriate for their situations. Las Lianas supports development based on traditional practices and local resources supported and strengthened by appropriate science and technologies.	Amazonian Peoples have sustainably managed rainforest resources for centuries. Now, extractive industries and inappropriate development threaten the local environment and challenge traditional stewardship practices. Indigenous communities are seeking and adapting new land management tools to respond to these challenges. Las Lianas works with Amazonian communities to combine modern science and traditional knowledge to create new approaches to understanding and preserving the health of rainforest ecosystems.
Collective Rights	Cultural Survival
Indigenous societies are defined by the interlocking relationship between culture and land. Culture is formed in part by place, while place is molded—and protected—by tradition. The totality is a shared identity manifested through the exercise of collective rights to territory, language, and autonomy. Las Lianas provides legal work and policy analysis to support advocacy for the collective rights that are part of the identity of indigenous cultures.	Traditional cultures possess knowledge and beliefs that are frequently distinct from those of the dominant culture and which may prove key to addressing current environmental and social challenges. Indigenous communities balance the need to adapt to changing circumstances with the goal of preserving ways of understanding that are part of a cultural identity. Las Lianas partners with indigenous peoples to exchange knowledge across cultures.

Las Lianas

Resource Center for
Science, Culture, & Environment

Dedicated to sustainable development, environmental preservation,
and cultural survival through partnerships with indigenous peoples.

Home

Projects

News

About us

Links

Español

The Amazon rainforest has great biological diversity and ecological importance to the entire world. It is also home to a culturally diverse group of indigenous peoples who have lived sustainably there for centuries. The Amazon offers important resources to the world, ranging from new medicines to new perspectives for understanding our relationship with our planet. Yet both the environment and native cultures are threatened by rapid and destructive development including oil and mining, logging, and unsustainable farming.

Las Lianas uses science, law and traditional knowledge to develop projects that sustain the region’s cultural and biological diversity. Our projects are varied, ranging from direct technical, legal, and financial assistance to communities working for sustainable food production, environmental protection, and cultural autonomy, to broader analysis of issues such as the impact of extractive industries or the application of collective rights. Our partnerships extend from the Secoya villagers on the Aguarico River to the regional and national Federations that represent thousands of Amazonian people in Ecuador.

Buy tropical bird note cards

Give a fish pond
or 1000 Fish!

Buy Secoya Art

Las Lianas montage

Program Areas

Sustainable Development

Environmental Defense

Indigenous and local peoples are faced
with a rapidly changing world, where much
that is presented as development is
destructive of both traditional cultures
and their lands. Yet cultural survival
requires change and traditional communities
are actively engaged seeking development
that is appropriate for their situations.

Las Lianas supports development based
on traditional practices and local resources
supported and strengthened by appropriate
science and technologies.

Amazonian Peoples have sustainably
managed rainforest resources for centuries.
Now, extractive industries and inappropriate
development threaten the local environment
and challenge traditional stewardship
practices. Indigenous communities are
seeking and adapting new land management
tools to respond to these challenges.

Las Lianas works with Amazonian
communities to combine modern science
and traditional knowledge to create new
approaches to understanding and preserving
the health of rainforest ecosystems.

Collective Rights

Cultural Survival

Indigenous societies are defined by the
interlocking relationship between culture
and land. Culture is formed in part by
place, while place is molded—and
protected—by tradition. The totality
is a shared identity manifested through
the exercise of collective rights to territory,
language, and autonomy.

Las Lianas provides legal work and policy
analysis to support advocacy for the
collective rights that are part of the identity
of indigenous cultures.

Traditional cultures possess knowledge and
beliefs that are frequently distinct from
those of the dominant culture and which
may prove key to addressing current
environmental and social challenges.
Indigenous communities balance the need
to adapt to changing circumstances with the
goal of preserving ways of understanding
that are part of a cultural identity.

Las Lianas partners with indigenous
peoples to exchange knowledge across
cultures.