Vision

Our vision is that plants, people and animals of the Mamoní Valley co-exist harmoniously in a thriving rainforest environment, for global impact.

The Mamoní Valley Preserve

The Mamoní Valley Preserve is a non-profit conservancy. Since 2001, we have been experimenting on how collaboration between conservation minded organizations, businesses, creative individuals, local communities and the state can restore a highly degraded but globally critical ecosystem. This innovative conservancy model is neither a national protected area, nor a private reserve, but rather a conservation community.

The current conservation community includes: The Mamoní Valley Preserve Foundation, Fundación Geoversity, Geoversity Foundation, The Mamoní 100, ForestFinance, Cocobolo Nature Reserve, Kaminando, the Monteza and the Ausinheiler families and a larger number of individuals and collaborators.

Fundación Geoversity (formerly Earth Train), is the Panamanian non-profit umbrella organization responsible for sustainable governance, conservation and development of all initiatives related to the Preserve.

The Mamoní Valley Preserve covers 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of the upper Mamoní Valley. Plans exist to expand the preserve to include the entire upper Mamoní watershed (11,710 hectares - 28,936 acres).

 

Carbon Offsets

 

Be a leader in Protecting Global Climate

 

A Critical Rainforest and Biodiversity Hotspot

The Mamoní Valley Preserve is a 5,000-hectare (12,355-acre) land conservancy aspiring to geographically include the entire 11,710-hectare (28,936-acre)upper Mamoní watershed. It is located within the largest remaining stretch of contiguous rainforest in the exceptionally biodiverse Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena eco-region: one of the top 25 Biodiversity Hotspots in the world. Incredibly, it is a mere 2-hour drive from the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.

Since 2002, the Mamoní Valley Preserve has been lowering the Valley’s CO₂ emissions by protecting an increasing amount of land from deforestation.

• The valley was being rapidly deforested, mainly for cattle ranching. At the original rate, the forest would have almost entirely disappeared by 2030.
• A conservative estimate concludes that without the efforts of the Mamoní Valley Preserve, the Valley would have 2,400 acres less of forest than it does today.
• Since its creation, The Mamoní Valley Preserve has prevented over 650,000 tons of CO₂ emissions from deforestation, enormously benefiting global climate.
• The continued protection of the forest prevents future CO₂ emissions and biodiversity loss.

We are a small team of passionate individuals, working towards an ambitious vision of global impact.

Be among the few who will lead the fight against climate change and protect the uniquely-important Mamoní Valley!

 

A Global Emergency

Climate change is a threat to the environmental and economic systems on which we depend for our very survival. Its impacts jeopardize decades of progress and exacerbate several other issues.

Despite the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists predict that 2020 is still on track to replace 2016 as the hottest year on record. The pandemic itself is a reminder of the significance of our actions in both creating and tackling global menaces.

The goal to keep global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels is no small endeavor. However, with this challenge, we are also presented with an enormous opportunity to transform our planet for the better, to live consciously, and to protect the things that matter.

 

Tropical Rainforest: A Key Part of the Solution

Gross emissions from deforestation account for around 25% of all global greenhouse gas carbon emissions.

Tropical forests are extraordinary carbon sinks, providing at least one-third of action needed to prevent and mitigate the worst climate change scenarios.

These forests are also extremely biodiverse compared to other ecosystems. Biologists estimate that tropical rainforests, while only making up about 6% of the world’s land area, are home to 50% of the world’s terrestrial plant and animal species.

Conservation of rainforests also benefits local communities who depend on them, which in turn makes these efforts more sustainable in the long-term.

 

Offset your Footprint

Join our Corporate Carbon Offset Program through a tax-deductible donation and participate in a pioneering initiative to protect and conserve a crucially-important rainforest.

• Our team of experts will work with you to estimate your company’s carbon footprint and determine the area of rainforest required to offset it.
• Our inhouse carbon accounting system allows us to deliver high impact at low cost by ensuring that every dollar goes to conservation efforts.
• More than just offsetting your carbon footprint, you are preserving the connectivity at the bottleneck of a biological corridor, protecting a biodiversity hotspot and empowering local actors.

 

Your corporate rainforest

We will jointly designate an area within the Mamoní Valley Preserve to be named after your company. By protecting it from deforestation, your company’s annual carbon footprint will be offset for the next 30 years!

 

Take advantage of our hosting capabilities for endless adventures in the middle of the rainforest

Our amenities include running water and high-speed internet access, powered by our hydroelectric and solar mini-grid.

Make your company retreats and team-building events a truly unique experience.

Stand out by bringing your customers to an extraordinary, magical setting.

 

Other benefits for your company

• A unique certificate featuring art by a local, indigenous artist, inspired by the natural beauty of the Mamoní Valley!
• A section of our website featuring your company and details about its designated corporate rainforest.
• Social media content creation.
• Use of our logo
• Join a growing network of business and thought leaders with a shared commitment to environmental issues.
• Participate in our many annual events, expeditions, and adventures!

 

Interested in supporting the MVP in other ways?

• Make a tax-deductible donation.
• Become a member of The Mamoní 100.

 

Get more information:

Importance of the Mamoní Valley

The critical importance of the ecology found in the Mamoní Valley is four-fold.

Make up: Contains 1,500 hectares (3,900 acres) of old growth forest.

Location: Situated only two hours from Panama City in the narrowest stretch of the Central American Isthmus, bordering the Continental Divide.

Neighborhood: Adjacent to the indigenous Gunayala territory, Emberá communities and the national protected areas Narganá and the Chagres National Park.

Biodiversity Hotspot: Part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena eco-region—one of the 20 most threatened ecological hotspots on Earth. The rivers of all these territories come from the same cloud forest ridge of the sacred Guna Mountain Dianmayala. The strategically important Mamoní River descends from 860 meters above sea level and flows east until reaching the southwest corner of the Valley, where it turns abruptly south at 120 meters above sea level and heads towards the Pacific Ocean.

Community

The Upper Mamoní Valley is a sparsely populated mountainous region with close proximity to Panama City. There are four villages: San José de Madroño, El Valle, La Zahina, and Mamoní Arriba (listed east to west). Total population of the Valley is estimated below 500 people, enough to support three small rural schools and one understaffed health center, all of which are located along the Mamoní River and its major tributary, the San José. Smaller ranching outposts are interspersed throughout the Valley—mostly along the main dirt road that runs along the river and connects the four villages.

Recognizing that the conversion from livestock production into nature conservation and restoration implies challenges for the local population, especially because they are in most landless. In order to pursue our vision for the valley, alternative socio-economic benefits are being explored and implemented:

• Land transfer to community dwellers
• Community involvement in a bamboo value chain (reforestation, caring, harvest, curing, modelling and building of modular structures)
• Community integration with the Life Changer grid
• Beneficiaries in Non Carbon Benefit Offset projects
• Beneficiaries in Global Climate Change program
• Employment at the science and leadership training center, Centro Mamoní
• Employment at the agroforestry center

Donate

Donate to the Mamoní Valley Preserve and help fund conservation easements and our rainforest guardian rangers that will create what is essentially an extension of Panama's Chagres National Park. We will attract eco-tourists for the Valley's robust diversity of wildlife and endangered jaguar, monkeys, toucans, and more, and the local communities will be empowered to develop more sustainable livelihoods. You will participate in and share in the legacy of preservation of this critical section of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, a habitat corridor started in 1998 to keep 106 critically endangered species from going extinct.

 

Donate