A collection of images from APCONK and OFGV's english and environmental education project at the school in Pillcopata , Peruvian Amazon. These children are the future custodians of the Amazon but the future they will inherit depends on you.
ONE EARTH - ONE PEOPLE - ONE LIFE
For information on Volunteering in Peru please clink on the logo above for a link to the
One Family Global Volunteering website
Please click on the image below for a link to a Go Fund Me campaign set up to raise funds for the Peruvian reforestation and education project
Below is a 5 minute condensed version of the Peru reforestation and education project documentary
For a while now I've been working on supporting a jungle community and reforestation project in the Peruvian Amazon. One way I've been doing this is by using my photography to highlight the issues there and using it also to gather funding with the premise that those who purchase an image have on their wall a frame that represents an opportunity for change and an investment in the future of the amazon, it's people and the planet.
Getting exposure is important so I'm really excited and grateful to have received and invitation to show my images at the up coming 'RAW Australia ' exhibition on the 5th of February at the Southport Sharks event centre. The event includes over 40 artists from all artistic fields and travels to more then 60 cities around the world so it's an incredible opportunity to receive exposure and funding world wide. As an artist contribution they have asked that each artist sell 20 tickets to the event. Tickets are $20 and are bought on line but to be allocated as a sale to me must be bought through my artist profile. If you're interested in coming please click on the image below or the title above then scroll down and click on my artist profile. Down the page there's a box titled 'featured in' where you can purchase a ticket.
If you have any questions please let me know. I'd love to see you there and would really appreciate your support if you can make it. Thanks very much!!
Below is a short documentary on the Peruvian Amazon jungle and what we are doing to help the community manage economic and environmental issues there.
Plaza De Armas, Cusco
The goal of my recent visit to Peru was to find land that had been deforested and needed reforestation. I intend to set up a volunteer/reforestation program not only to help with reforestation but also to give people from outside Peru the opportunity to connect with the amazon in a very meaningful way and get a first hand idea of the issue these communities are dealing with. On this land I am also building a cultural centre to house invaluableinformation on native culture and traditions before modernisation takes hold, and use the lodgings not only to give the community a way to supplement their income through ecotourism but to encourage people in the community to become a part of, and see value in this project. In order to find the best way of going about this, I wanted to find people in the community with an understanding of all the issues and see how they felt about what I was proposing to do.
Gloria, Teodocio and Fransesca
I made my way from Cusco to the jungle community of Pilcopata, in the Kcosnipata region and with the help of Mariel Cordero, spoke with as many people as I could including the church pastor who’s NPO has been put in control of a 10000ha government concession of land, land that has been deforested and is at further risk of deforestation. After talking with the community about what I intended to do I was told that it was a great idea but it did little to address the issue of deforestation that exist due to the lack of alternatives for land holders surrounding the concession still logging and using out dated and destructive agricultural practices.
Plicomayo River, Plicopata, Amazon jungle, Peru
For many days we talked exhaustively with people about what they felt were the first steps in addressing these issues and what was preventing them from taking action. Their answer was simply funding for human resources to help educate, offer alternatives and mediate between land holders who disagree about agricultural practises. Our company, The World as I AM, is forming a partnership with The Kcosnipata association for conservation to address these delicate but most important issues before we can begin the task of reforestation. It’s much more sensitive work then reforestation but through this process we will build the kind of foundation and relationship with the community necessary to see the ongoing success of the community’s economy and the reforestation program.
Jungle expedition, (from right) Teodocio, Samuel, Jon, Me and Mariel on camera,
To begin this funding we are using my photography. When I began this fund raising project I hoped that each frame I sold would represent a hectare of amazon saved. That each time someone looked at a framed image, they could look at this picture and not only see an image of a beautiful place on this planet, but a frame that represents an investment in the future. what I have learned from this trip though, is that each frame could represent 100s maybe 1000s of hectares of amazon saved as the funds for these frames will FIRST be invested in people and education to offer alternatives to the current practices.
Like an investment in a bank, this investment will grow.
For more information on how to get involved please fill out a contact form.
Sun rise in Patria
Recently I’ve been collecting images of some of the most beautiful places I know of with ulterior motives. If you know me then you’ve had to listen to me bang on and on and ooon about Peru and the Amazon Jungle. So here’s why all the photo posts... I intend to use my Photography to preserve the amazon jungle and build a cultural centre to document the culture, flora and fauna I learned from so that it can always be available to experience. The greatest way to ensure it's preservation from logging, mining and other influences is for it to be owned privately. This region has an incredibly rich biodiversity being the point where lowland jungle meets the cloud forest and is the habitat for extremely rare and endangered species such as the Spectacled Bear/ Andean Bear, Jaguarundi, Wooly monkey, Oncilla(leopard cat), Musmuqui(owl eyed monkey), Ocelot and more not to mention Jaguar, puma, tigrillo and the plethora of monkeys, sloth, ant eater, birds and butterflies like you just cannot imagine… Then you have the vegetation! I’m returning to Peru briefly in August to see the land and meet with people then returning at the end of the year to commence work.
With the sale of these frames I intend to purchase as much land as possible meaning each frame will represent a relative portion of jungle saved…. to know the life I have seen in just one square meter of the amazon…. and think that one of these frames could represent up to a hectare of that life saved, it’s a powerful motivator to get up at 3 in the morning and work at producing something that is worthy of sale to make this a reality!
There’s a lot more detailed information I can supply. If you are interested in knowing the socioeconomic and environmental effects also to the communities please ask and I will give you all the information of what is at risk and what is being proposed. Also please check out www.atalayaperu.net the organisation I am working with on this. If you want to see the site in English there is an English flag icon in the top right corner. Please click on that.
Raul
Cusco - Peru 2011
A collection of images taken during my time in Peru managing a reforestation project in the Amazon.
First light in Miami - Gold Coast. Australia
A collection of sunrises and sunsets in some of the Coast's most beautiful places.
Into the future
Winter in Armidale New South Wales. Australia
A collection of black and white images from around the world in 2014
