A Day in the Forest

White-Sand Forests (Yes, That’s A Thing) Are Disappearing. Can Kids Fall In Love With Them And Save Them?

We’ll admit it, some of us on Team Awesome never heard of white-sand forests until Cristian Jonathan Velez Ramirez told us he wants to introduce children to the white-sand forests around Iquitos, Peru.

It turns out that white-sand forests (also found in Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa) are vanishing from the face of the earth because they’re easily exploited for resources.

What can stop the relentless destruction? Amazon Forever is a nonprofit organization promoting conservation by helping people understand how important the ecosystems are to their way of life. But it’s hard to care about nature if you’ve never experienced nature, and it might be hard to imagine, but a lot of city dwellers around the world never do.

Most of the children in the biggest city in the Peruvian Amazon have never been to the sand forest that surrounds them. Cristian’s going to use this Awesome Without Borders grant to create a profound experience in the native forest for hundreds of girls and boys 6-12 years old. By revealing the wonders of nature and creating opportunity for the children to have positive interaction with the natural world, along with some environmental education delivered in the right setting, perhaps they will understand why their national treasures must be protected.

Their “Day In The Forest” will include a tour of the Botanical Garden, an Eco Library, and a chance to make their way down paths in one of the last white-sand forests that exist on the planet.

Find out more here, and follow along with them on Facebook and Instagram.