The founders of the Rainforest family: Ineke van den Berkmortel and Marcel van Zwienen.
“In December 2016 we spent a week in the Shuar Community of Tawasap in the Amazon of Ecuador. This made a deep impression on us: definitely a “life changing event”. The Shuar Indians live with each other and the earth with great respect: they only take what they need from the Amazon and do not want to exploit the earth, trees and raw materials of the Amazon. On the contrary, the Shuar have started reforestation projects in 18 communities and plant plants and trees back in destroyed parts of the Amazon.
They are financing the projects until now with their own limited resources. At the end of our stay in the Amazon, we decided to set up a foundation in the Netherlands to support the reforestation projects and Shuar community: The Rainforestfamily!”
On April 6, the foundation was established and the board consists of:
- Ineke van den Berkmortel, Chairman
- Marcel van Zwienen, Treasurer & IT
- Liesbeth Smit, Secretary
- Ron Hendriks, Boardmember and responsible for marketing, PR and funding
We have found companies that sponsor the Rainforest family for all necessary services (website, design logo, notary).
All of your donations therefore go directly to the Amazon and the Shuar community: Currently 100%. In the future a maximum of 10% of the donations can be spent on costs. The explanation of these costs will be available as our statutes and financial statements of the Foundation require, and can be sent on request.
In August 2017, we will go to the Tawasap community with the board and 4 other enthusiastic sponsors: they will help us with the reforestation projects and create even more awareness of the need and urgency of the projects.
There is no plan B, there is no earth-B!