The Siekopai are no strangers to climbing trees. In fact, hardly a day goes by where the children of the community aren’t spotted clambering about the web of branches high in one of the village trees, creating games or picking fruit to share out amongst themselves. Our visit to the Siekopai Remolino in September was not to encourage members of the community to climb the trees, this is already well practiced within their culture, but instead our aim was to introduce them to climbing systems that would allow them to climb a specific tree, the morete palm, to reach the fruit safely and with minimal damage to the tree.

One of our most exciting initiatives we have pursued this past year has involved us teaming up with SIP Protection to design and produce a limited stock of BCC branded Gecko climbing trousers.

This will help raise a further 2500€ to round off our final push of fundraising and firmly reach our goal of 20,000€ for the Siekopai Remolino community.

As we walked through the village, and around the hut where we were accommodated, it was striking to see how abundant the jungle was, no more than a stone’s throw from wherever we stood at any given time. Flora of the surrounding rainforest seems to burst at the seams, trying to encroach on the patches of ground which have been cleared for gardens and communal areas.

Whilst the BCC team are with the Siekoya Remolino in the Ecuadorian Amazon we are delighted to share the full length documentary detailing the story from our first contact in 2021.

The story of the Siekopai Remolino is a long and fascinating one, it dates back beyond history and into mythology, and we find ourselves well into our third year working alongside such wonderful people as they navigate a particularly turbulent chapter.  Their land and culture face new threats, and while the tide of Ecuadorian politics appears to be turning, their fight to secure a future for their people requires new and innovative ideas.

We’re weeks away from phase two of our 2023 campaign supporting the Siekoya Remolino community in diversifying their sustainable sources of income and improve food sovereignty.

With thanks to everyone who has bought from our fundraising products and donated money to the cause, we have collected 75% of our £20,000 goal :)

A message from the Siekoya Remolino to the BCC Community

There were fires, cooking, informed nature walks and documentary showings happening all over world as we celebrated the very places that we also stood in peaceful protest to protect during the annual Big Canopy Campout 2023. Here are the first impressions and highlights.

Citizen science has become an increasingly important data source for researchers and a reliable means to contribute and share scientific data and information.

Big Canopy Campout offers a unique opportunity to gather hundreds of data points and observations from forests around the globe over one weekend adding to these valuable data sets and connecting people with similar interests.

The experiences that nature brings, and the opportunity to help nature in return, are reasons why we look forward to our annual campout event so much, and why it remains such a valuable part of our fundraising efforts.

Read two of our team members past campout experiences showing us the differences and beauty in making your own means of appreciating and spending time in forests.

With less than 3 weeks until the Big Canopy campout event and our ambitious goals of 2023, the Big Canopy Campout team have been busy with all sorts of fundraising initiatives, and while we’ve had our work cut out for us, we are delighted with the successes we have seen already these past few months.

2023 marks the third year that Big Canopy Campout have supported the SËRA Foundation with our yearly fundraising. By the end of this year we anticipate the Siekoya Remolino community, which SËRA represents, to be in a position where they can begin to sustain themselves financially against the encroaching pressures put upon them by oil and palm oil industries. 

At such a significant time we thought we’d do a recap on these past years through the eyes of BCC. Looking at how our relationship to SËRA Foundation has strengthened and appreciate how, during this time, our fantastic BCC community has provided the fundraising leading up to our ambitious goals of 2023.

A key part of our fundraising efforts is the selling of custom BCC products aimed at the tree climbing and outdoor community, and this year we have partnered with SIP Protection to produce a limited edition set of Gecko climbing trousers. The designs on these bespoke trousers represent both BCC and SËRA, with proceeds from the Limited edition design contributing towards our fundraising goal to assist the Siekoya Remolino community in further diversifying their sustainable sources of income and improve food sovereignty.

Opening up the BCC shop is always an exciting time for us, and this year’s new gear makes that even more the case. As we anticipate a year of great success and meaningful change for the Seikopai, we also look forward to hearing your feedback and seeing photos of our new gear out amongst the trees.

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.

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 below.

The Native People of Sarayaku are best known for their historic 2012 victory against the Ecuadorian state at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which found that the government had violated their rights by allowing an oil company to enter their territory without consulting them.

That same year, the Sarayaku created the Kawsak Sacha (Living Forest) Declaration asserting that, as a living entity, their territory is subject to legal rights and demanding that these rights be upheld according to existing national and international law.