Blog

With over 40 years of tree climbing experience Eric Folmer will be leading a tree climbing expedition to Costa Rico over New Year's.  An arborist, canopy researcher and board member of Global Organisation of Tree Climbers (GOTC), Eric will be leading the two week trip to include visit canopy research conservation areas including Osa Conservation, Corcovado National Park, Caño Island and finishing with tree climbing. (See program below)

There are up to 20 places available, please contact Eric directly for booking and any questions.

The young Siekopai and I are eternally grateful, especially to Vicki and Rebecca Tough, for their ongoing support.

In the words of Jimmy: “Big Canopy Campout has helped us so much! They have given us so much strength. They have supported us with this really important tour. They have opened a really big door for us! We are so grateful to them. From this territory, from this ancient Siekopai territory, from the descendants of great shamans, from jaguars, from all the spirits that we have in this land, we send them strength so that they can keep doing this beautiful work.”

We are so excited to see what the next chapter brings.

In 2021, Big Canopy Campout raised funds for the Sëra Foundation, an indigenous grassroots organisation founded by a group of young Amazon defenders of Siekopai nationality who are working to protect their territory and ancestral culture.

Their focus is to create an education system that combines their ancestral wisdom with aspects of modern knowledge, and to develop sustainable sources of income for their community.

BCC 2021 connected our international community of tree climbers and outdoor enthusiasts with these forest defenders in a global campaign to protect the Ecuadorian Amazon, learn from the people who have resided there for millennia and share their story of resistance.

Funds raised through the sale of custom made products provided the opportunity for the Sëra Foundation to leave their community on a trip to visit inspiring people and projects to guide the steps in their journey.

Beth Pitts activist, author and friend of the Siekopai documents the story here.

Registration is our way of sharing your campout with the community and displaying the international network of forest enthusiasts taking part around the world.⁠ ⁠

How do people connect and support with indigenous communities in a respectful way?

The best way is to coordinate directly with the community, those who would like to visit indigenous communities and discover our medicine have the opportunity to do so.