USING OUR BUSINESS AS A FORCE FOR GOOD
We are committed to protecting both nature and the local communities — in every decision we make regarding our operations — we take into consideration both the environmental and social impact.
Part of our revenue is directed to our ongoing projects where we give back to the local communities.
Even with +13 years of experience in the industry, we are not perfect yet — we are continuously aiming to improve the way we work.
Hello! My name is May — happy to meet you!
I was born in the jungle, in a small Amazonian village with 150 inhabitants.
Thus, I can safely say that I know the rainforest by heart. I have a deep respect for it — and a true desire to ensure it survives. I know how limited the development opportunities are for local communities living in the Amazonian area.
I believe that tourism — when done in the right way — can improve both the livelihood of the Amazonian people, and assist in the protection of the rainforest. Our guests help create positive incentives for local people to safeguard the forest, instead of joining the illegal logging, hunting, fishing and mining industries.
Allpayacu Adventures collaborates with local villagers to provide unforgettable experiences for our guests. Allpayacu adventures regularly make donations to the communities living in the Amazon. Read more about our efforts below.
If you want to experience the Amazon in an authentic way, my team is ready to work with you to creat your perfect Amazon adventure today.
— May Jony Arriaga Chavez
Founder & CEO of Allpayacu Adventures,
Professional Guide
Our Responsibility
Context to our Responsibility efforts
Building dreams and creating opportunities
At Allpayacu Adventures, we believe that education is the best enabler to protect the Amazon rainforest, the lungs of the world.
In order to enable education in the local region, the people's basic needs must be covered — including proper health care. Additionally, in this era of mobile devices (which have arrived in the Amazonian villages too, influencing the youth rapidly) — it's important to get people excited about the opportunities that exist around them — and activate them to take action.
Our main target group regarding our Responsibility efforts are the local Amazonian villagers, especially children and youth. We believe that real change can happen once these newer generations will learn about the importance of protecting the wild, get excited about it — and aim for jobs that safeguard the environment but also create a sustainable source of income. We aim to do our part to enable this, here in the local regions close to Iquitos, Peru.
LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE
O: Educate & enable the new generations to protect the Amazon rainforest
Key Result: 100% of local Amazonian villagers find economically sustainable jobs outside the most environmentally harmful industries (like logging & mining)
Key Result: 100% of local villages and tour operators establish a proper garbage management
With this long-term objective, we aim to
Empower the local people to find permanent sources of livelihood which don't harm the environment
Contribute to ensuring that The Global Warming does not pass the 1.5 ºC target set by the International Panel of Climate Change, IPCC
Contribute to stopping the biodiversity loss resulting e.g. from deforestation and water contamination
How we take action right now? (Updated Dec 2024)
1. Scholarships for education
Thanks to our loyal customers, we have been able to help two local students, Leider and Yarita, in their studies to graduate as nurses in Iquitos. They both come from underpriviledged families living in remote villages. Without outside help, their dreams of becoming nurses would not be possible.
Additionally, in 2024, two other students we've supported have successfully graduated. Thank you for your support!
Leider, local student
Yarita, local student
Graduates we have supported
2. School supplies to enable education
We are continuously gathering funds & supplies to enable education in remote villages. In practice, we bring notebooks, pencils, erasers, rulers, etc. for young students from low-income families.
In the local schools, families are expected to provide school supplies for their children. Unfortunately some families are unable to afford these, despite their hard work. We use a portion of revenues from each Amazon Adventure you book with us to help bring these needed supplies to low-income families in the Amazon.
For example in March & June 2024, we delivered 100+ backpacks filled with school supplies to local students.
3. Medical supplies to improve health care
Medical care is very difficult to obtain for families in the Amazon who often lack even the most basics of medical care. Things that many of us take for granted: vaccinations, medicine for fever or flu, eye glasses and dental care are often inaccessible.
We use a portion of each tour's revenues to help bring needed medical care. For example, we aim to donate medicines for tropical illnesses (pills and injections) to low income families.
4. Education on Climate Change and Biodiversity loss — and hands-on help with recycling & garbage management
Protecting our beautiful Amazon is critical to Allpayacu Adventures. We are visiting local schools to speak about climate change and biodiversity loss. We show the students videos about the causes and consequences — and teach them why and how to preserve our nature. We talk about the importance of proper garbage management and teach them how to recycle different materials like plastics.
Our “Ecological Community” initiative helps local villagers to take action on recycling (especially plastics) and & garbage management, to keep the villages and rivers clean.
To encourage the children to protect the forest, we launched a "Plant a tree, save our world" campaign, which encourages kids in remote villages to plant a timber or fruit tree in the village and care for it to grow — we then give presents for the best results at the end of each year.
5. Christmas celebration (traditional Chocolatada Navideña) for low-income families
Every year, we select a couple of local villages where we bring a little joy for the Christmas holidays. We started this activity back in 2010 and have continued ever since.
Bring your family or friends and join us we organize traditional peruvian Chocolatada Navideña (hot chocolate and sweet bread with pieces of fruits inside) for all the villagers to enjoy, and give a small gift of clothing to the children.
6. Organizing football tournaments & sponsoring team shirts
To preserve the community feeling and traditions of the Amazonian cultures, we wanted to offer something else to the local youth than the games found across mobile devices. We wanted to bring the kids together and get them activated through team sports.
In collaboration with our customers, Allpayacu Adventures has sponsored multiple football teams with proper shirts and organized football tournaments.
We believe these efforts have improved the integration between the youth living in remote villages.
Actions we are planning to take in future:
Provide accommodation in Iquitos — for students coming from remote villages
Today, many students can't afford to stay in Iquitos to continue their studies after high school. We are planning to buy a piece of land from Iquitos, and build there a guest house for tourists — but with extra rooms to host the students from remote areas.
How can I help?
As we are using part of our revenue to enable these efforts, already by booking your Amazon adventures with us, you are joining these efforts.
We are continuously looking for voluntary donations.
The monetary donations we are using to enable all the things mentioned above, but also, we are planning for certain specific purchases: e.g. a video projector for showing educational materials to children and youth.
In addition, we are looking for the following goods:
School supplies (notebooks, pencils, erasers, rulers, color pens, etc.)
Clothing, shoes & accessories (can be used, as we will wash them — the kids are grateful for clothing)
Goods (or services) that can be used as presents (we use these to motivate young villagers to join the efforts like the "Plant a tree, save the world" campaign)
Reliable information & materials regarding Climate Change & Biodiversity loss to educate the local villagers — including practical equipment to enable proper garbage management
Medicine for tropical illnesses
Football uniforms — jerseys, shorts, socks, footballs
If you have some extra space in your luggage while coming to Iquitos, do consider packing some of the things mentioned above — as these donations can make a huge difference for the local villagers.