Grupo Osanimi/Group Osanimi

Grupo Osanimi/Group Osanimi is a collaborative effort among a group of concerned individuals in Costa Rica, Perú, and Ecuador joining efforts in the fields of Rainforest conservation and cultural heritage revivification among Indigenous minorities and campesino peoples' Rainforest communities. The work supports the struggle for cultural and territorial autonomy through land purchase programs. We also dedicate efforts to cultural heritage rekindling processes. This includes ethnobotanical and ethnographical documentation and research, preservation of Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge, and the plants in ethnobotanical gardens, in situ, to support traditional healers and their healing methods. Our approach is holistic and direct aimed at bridging the gap among the generations in order to collaborate in the efforts of safeguarding the Rainforest and the knowledge pertinent for continued sustainable living, healing and well being.

Our strategy addresses the specific needs of the region in which we work. In the Ecuadorian Amazon many of the Indigenous groups have obtained legal title to their communally held tribal lands, which collectively amount to millions of acres of primary Rainforest. The fact that this Rainforest is held communally by Indigenous communities does not mean it is protected. The Indigenous People of the Amazon are faced with tremendous economic pressures at the same time that their traditional cultures are undergoing rapid change that follows modernization. Unsustainable land-use, such as cattle and timber extraction, is rapidly becoming the main economic activity in the area. Through our work in the region we have noticed that a crucial, yet often overlooked, link in preserving the forests is the knowledge of the uses and value of the forest inherited by the people of the Rainforest. This knowledge is, regrettably, disappearing as fast as the forest itself. For this reason we have a strategy of protecting fragile eco-systems by promoting cultural revivification and protecting Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge and healing.

Our projects are small steps towards the preservation of the tropical Rainforests of the Amazon. We create ethnobotanical gardens and cultural centers for youth to study with the community elders. We publish small bilingual educational books based on traditional plant lore and its application. We also channel funding to purchase and establish forest preserves by partnering with Indigenous communities that have demonstrated a commitment to conservation.

With the acceleration of deforestation, forest cultures are now more vulnerable than ever. Greater financial resources would increase the effectiveness and outreach potential of our work - the effectiveness of existing projects and expand our ability to undertake new ones. We hope our work will inform and inspire you. To concerned individuals, foundations, and private benefactors, we express deep gratitude for your solidarity.

Fundación Osa or Grupo Osanimi/Group Osanimi is a socially and environmentally responsible endeavor.

Purpose and Intention

• To support the immediate protection of Rainforest and other natural areas.
• To rescue vanishing plant lore and create a new ethnobotany that seeks to strengthen the bridge of knowledge transmission among elders and youth.
• To protect Indigenous medicinal plant knowledge and traditional healing methods.
• To assist Indigenous People in their struggle for cultural and territorial autonomy.
• To enact programs which encourage the revivification of an ecologically sound and economically sustainable relationship between people and the forest.

Grupo Osanimi/Group Osanimi is sponsored by the
Living Bridges Foundation
a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization based in Aptos, California, USA.
Contact Person:
Dahlia Kresch E. Miller
Tel: (510) 235-4313; Fax: (510) 215-9840
Email:
PO Box 1004, El Cerrito, California, 94530, US

Note: We have legalized a non-profit organization in Costa Rica, in the name of Fundación OSA or Grupo Osanimi. OSA stands for "Organización Social y Ambiental" – translated to "Social and Environmental Organization." So in a sense we are shifting from the name Group Osanimi to Grupo Osanimi.