Donating To The Bolivian Amazon: A Step-By-Step Guide

Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America, with nearly 40% of its population living in poverty. The country is home to a diverse range of geographical features, including the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon provides 20% of the world's oxygen, stores 25% of its water, and is home to millions of species. It is also crucial in stabilising the Earth's climate. However, the Amazon is under constant threat from deforestation and other human activities. Several organisations are dedicated to protecting the Amazon and supporting the indigenous communities that depend on it. These organisations rely on donations to carry out their work, and there are various ways individuals can contribute, such as through one-time or monthly donations, fundraisers, or by purchasing and sending e-cards.

Donate to the Help Bolivia Foundation

The Help Bolivia Foundation is a Canadian charity working to relieve poverty in Bolivia by providing education, counselling, and nutrition to underprivileged children, as well as skills training to underprivileged women and youth. The foundation is currently working in the Tahuantinsuyo Community Centre and in Villa Ingenio, El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz.

Grain of Sand Campaign

You can transform the lives of children in Villa Ingenio by signing up to donate your 'Grain of Sand', starting at $5 a month.

Villa Ingenio Brick Wall Fundraiser

You can buy a brick to help build brighter futures for the children of Bolivia. When donors visit the Tahuantinsuyo Community Centre, they find their names on the Brick Wall donor poster in the lunchroom. Now, the foundation is building a Brick Wall donor poster for Villa Ingenio.

Feed and Educate Children in El Alto, Bolivia

This project provides a nutritious lunch and education support to children identified by their teachers as being most in need due to extreme poverty, poor educational support, malnutrition, insufficient healthcare, and an increased risk of sexual abuse and gang violence.

4th Annual Fitness Challenge

You can sign up or sponsor a participant for the 4th Annual Fitness Challenge.

2nd Annual "Bids for Kids" - Montreal

You can learn more and buy tickets for the 2nd Annual "Bids for Kids" event in Montreal.

Travel to Bolivia

You can travel to Bolivia and see the kids the foundation supports.

Support Amazon Conservation

The Amazon rainforest is essential for our planet's survival, and it is in grave danger. The Amazon gives us up to 20% of the air we breathe, stores 25% of the world's water, and stabilizes Earth's climate. It is also home to millions of species of insects and other wildlife, and millions of people, many of them indigenous.

Indigenous peoples are protecting 80% of Earth’s biodiversity and half of all standing forest left in the Amazon, largely on their own. They need our support.

• Donate to Amazon Conservation: Amazon Conservation has been protecting the headwaters of the Amazon for 20 years. They are a local organization, part of the communities where they work, so your contributions will support direct, on-the-ground conservation efforts. They are also a highly-rated, trustworthy nonprofit, with a 4-Star rating from Charity Navigator, Platinum Level from Candid/Guide Star Exchange, and Top-Rated by Great Nonprofits.
• Donate to Amazon Frontlines: Amazon Frontlines supports Indigenous peoples fighting to protect their lands and way of life against a growing wave of threats, and building a resilient future for their communities. You can donate monthly to energize the movement to protect the Amazon throughout the year and become part of a powerful community invested in Indigenous peoples and the future of our planet.
• Support Sustainable Bolivia: Sustainable Bolivia is seeking support to build the very first research and conservation station in the Bolivian Amazon.
• Support Friends of Inti Wara Yassi: Friends of Inti Wara Yassi is a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia that cares for 500 wild animals rescued from illegal trafficking. They also run conservation programs to protect their sanctuaries from fires.
• Support Women for Conservation: Women for Conservation has partnered with the Jucumari Program to promote Andean Bear conservation in Cochabamba, Bolivia, through community conservation programs.
• Create a fundraiser on Facebook: Get your family and friends involved by creating a Facebook Fundraiser.
• Join a monthly giving program: Become a Wild Keeper with Amazon Conservation, or join a similar program with another organization working to protect the Amazon.

Your support can protect millions of acres of the last wild places left on the planet, empower local people and indigenous communities to become champions for nature, and put the latest in science and technology to work for conservation.

Donate to Friends of Inti Wara Yassi

Friends of Inti Wara Yassi is a UK-registered charity that supports the work of the Bolivian organisation, Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY). CIWY is devoted to the defence of human and animal rights and environmental justice. It manages three separate refuges for wild animals in different parts of the Bolivian Amazon and provides environmental education.

Friends of Inti Wara Yassi raises funds and awareness for CIWY's work. The charity's mission is to provide the best quality of life possible to wildlife rescued from illegal trading and to end animal trafficking through education and public action, in partnership with authorities and other organisations.

You can donate to Friends of Inti Wara Yassi in a variety of ways. The charity accepts one-time or monthly donations via PayPal, as well as direct bank transfers to its Bolivian, UK, or Australian bank accounts. If you are a UK taxpayer, you can also donate by cheque, payable to 'Friends of Inti Wara Yassi' and mailed to the following address: Friends of Inti Wara Yassi, P.O. Box 5403, Brighton, East Sussex BN50 8GW, United Kingdom.

If you are an Australian taxpayer, you can make tax-deductible donations of at least AU$2 to CIWY through FIWY Australia. Additionally, if you are interested in company-matched giving, Friends of Inti Wara Yassi can provide any necessary information to your employer.

For those who wish to support a particular project or animal, you may send an email to the charity to ensure your donation goes to the right place.

Support Amazon Frontlines

Amazon Frontlines is an organisation that works to defend the rights of indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest, to protect the rainforest itself, and to safeguard our climate future.

The Amazon is approaching an irreversible ecological tipping point. Amazon Frontlines works with indigenous peoples to protect the forest and the way of life of its inhabitants. The organisation is committed to supporting the Ceibo Alliance, an indigenous organisation formed to address the multitude of threats facing the rainforest territories, cultures, and ways of life of the four nationalities that comprise the alliance.

Amazon Frontlines emerged from the water project ClearWater, a collaboration to provide indigenous families with access to clean water in a region affected by industrial contamination. As the project grew and health improved in the communities, the four nationalities saw the potential for collaboration to address other threats to their territories.

Amazon Frontlines is supporting the struggles of indigenous families to ensure access to clean water and renewable energy. They are also supporting indigenous youth to tell their stories in their own voices, keeping indigenous memories alive. The organisation is helping to protect more than 5 million acres of ancestral rainforest homelands.

You can support Amazon Frontlines by donating on their website.

Donate to Global Gallery, Inc

Global Gallery, Inc. is a non-profit organisation that supports vulnerable children and families in Bolivia. The organisation is currently raising funds for two projects:

Support 125 children at Refugio Rafael in Bolivia

Refugio Rafael, located outside Cochabamba, Bolivia, provides transitional housing and core programs for vulnerable children and families. The organisation has raised $20,380 of its $30,000 goal.

Educational Sponsorship for 300 children

Refugio Rafael in Marquina, Bolivia, started an after-school program in 2017 to support the children of the migrant community whose parents work long hours. The program provides educational sponsorship for 300 children. Global Gallery, Inc. has raised $21,565 of its $144,000 goal.

To donate to Global Gallery, Inc., you can visit the GlobalGiving website and make a contribution to one of these projects. GlobalGiving is a well-known and trusted platform that connects donors with vetted and verified non-profit projects around the world. By donating through GlobalGiving, you can be confident that your contribution will directly support Global Gallery, Inc.'s initiatives in the Bolivian Amazon and make a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families.

Frequently asked questions