For every steel water bottle bought, IZMEE has decided to give a portion of the profits to Italian humanitarian organisation, Cesvi’s, social and environmental projects, as well as its initiatives launched to offer assistance during the unprecedented emergency caused by the pandemic.

Cesvi’s environmental projects

One of the Cesvi projects supported by IZMEE profits is the intervention to protect the Amazon Rainforest. The Italian charity has been working in this area for thirty years, collaborating with local communities so they can become champions of sustainable development to respect biodiversity, protect the environment and carefully manage the use of natural resources.

Cesvi operates in the cross-border area known as MAP (Madre de Dios/Peru, Acre/Brazil and Pando/Bolivia), located in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. A significant quantity of natural biodiversity is concentrated in the Madre de Dios zone (54% of the protected area), which is under threat due to illegal mining and logging (wood, oil, gold). Although 54% of the land in the region is protected by parks and natural reserves, the threat of illegal and unofficial mining – such as gold, timber and hydrocarbons – for economic purposes, remains high. Plantations for the Amazonian walnut also have above average rates of erosion and deforestation, caused by farming and logging, which for the most part is illegal.

The Amazonian walnut is a species indigenous to the area protected by the project. Named a “super food” due to its high levels of protein, amino acids, vitamins and oligo elements, the nut has been in ever-increasing demand on both the national and international scale.

Cesvi’s project seeks to strengthen the sustainable economic development of the Amazonian walnut production chain and to preserve, protect and reforest thousands of hectares of the Amazon Rainforest. The initiative focuses on promoting exports and sales, in addition to local consumption of the product which has a high value in terms of nutrition, economics, culture and social inclusion. Organic production is promoted to guarantee environmental sustainability and, in collaboration with research centres, preservation measures and reforestation are being introduced.

From 2020, Cesvi will protect 36,000 new hectares of the Amazon Rainforest in 4 local communities and with 20 new grants. Eroded areas will be cared for through reforestation and the creation of agroforestry systems, specifically Amazonian walnuts and related crops (i.e. plane trees and lemons).

The 460 beneficiaries in Madre de Dios are united in 4 associations and an indigenous federation, which involves 40% of Amazonian walnut producers in the whole region. Families have an average of 6 people, meaning that when the goals of the project have been achieved, the income of at least 2,700 people will have improved.

To find out more about other Cesvi projects supported by IZMEE:

• IZMEE supports Cesvi in its response to the Covid emergency
• IZMEE supports Cesvi’s childhood protection projects