Bosque Semilla: Amazonian Living Seed Bank Forest in Napo, Ecuador
Founded in 2020, Yakum is a Food Planet Prize finalist British–Ecuadorian non-profit, working with Indigenous nations and governing councils in the Amazon to restore degraded land through Cultural Food Forest Landscapes that strengthen biodiversity, food sovereignty and local livelihoods. Over the last seven years, Yakum has collaborated primarily with Siekopai, Cofán and Kichwa communities to regenerate more than 500 hectares of forest and agroforestry systems centred with more than 400 species of fruit trees, palms and medicinal plants. Together, we have established native plant nurseries, seed exchange networks, restoration brigades and community food initiatives linked to cacao, oils, fruits, honey and other non-timber forest products. Yakum’s talented team includes indigenous, Ecuadorian and international women and men, IndigenousGoverning Council leaders,Fellows of the RGS and Linnean Societies of London. Two team members have received The Explorers Club´s "EC50" recognition.
Project story
The Vision
The Bosque Semilla Project (“The Seed Forest”) is a living seed bank and cultural food forest restoration hub being established in the Andean foothills of the Ecuadorian Amazon, near the Colonso-Chalupas Biological Reserve.
The project will exist to support long-term, seven years to date of collaboration between Fundación Yakum and Indigenous Kichwa, Siekopai and Cofán communities working to restore biodiversity, strengthen food sovereignty and recover traditional ecological knowledge through culturally rooted forest garden systems.
Bosque Semilla aims to become one of the most diverse living collections of useful tropical food and medicinal plants in the region, focused on Pan-Amazonian, Chocó and Central American species important for Indigenous food systems across all Amazonian nations, to support hyperdiverse ecological restoration and climate resilient forest gardens for an unpredictable future.
Background & Challenges
Across the Amazon, many traditional food plants, medicinal species and forest management practices are rapidly disappearing as forests are fragmented, younger generations lose access to traditional knowledge, and communities become increasingly dependent on imported foods and unstable economic systems.
At the same time, restoration initiatives across the region often lack access to diverse native seed sources and propagation systems adapted to local ecological and cultural realities.
Many important Amazonian fruit trees, palms, perennial vegetables and medicinal plants are poorly represented in conventional restoration projects despite their enormous ecological, nutritional and cultural importance.
The Bosque Semilla Project was created to help address this gap through a living system of seed conservation, propagation, food forests and community exchange.
The Solution
The site will function as a living seed vault, propagation and distribution centre and inspiration/training space supporting Indigenous communities and restoration initiatives across the western Amazon.
Alongside conserving rare and culturally important species, Bosque Semilla will produce seeds, seedlings and knowledge for food forests, restoration corridors and community agroforestry systems.
The project will include:
Living collections of more than 800 useful tropical tree species
Seed and seedling production systems
Community nurseries and propagation infrastructure
Training and exchange spaces
Food forest demonstration systems
Seed collection and biodiversity monitoring
Cultural food and medicinal plant gardens
Yakum and its Indigenous partners have already assembled a living collection of hundreds of species and varieties of fruit trees, palms, perennial vegetables and medicinal plants that now urgently require their permanent planting space in Alto Pano, Napo, Ecuador.
How We Regenerate
Yakum works through a methodology “Cultural Food Foress” (concept diagram codesigned with 3 indigenous nations attached)
The approach combines ecological restoration, revitalization of Indigenous food systems, soil restoration and long-term community stewardship into living regenerative landscapes.
Rather than separating conservation, livelihoods and culture, we work to weave them together through diverse food forests centred around culturally important species and practices.
This includes:
Restoration with native and useful species
Recovery of traditional foods and recipes
Women-led food & cooking initiatives
Amazon-wide seed exchange networks
Community nurseries
Non-timber forest product harvesting and processing from forest canopy
Medicinal and nutritional biodiversity research
Long-term ecological stewardship
The project also seeks to create meaningful economic opportunities linked to regenerative forest systems, while strengthening local autonomy and reducing pressure on remaining primary forests.
Tracking Impact
Yakum and its Indigenous partners have already planted more than 450 hectares of cultural food forests and restoration systems across the Ecuadorian Amazon using more than 400 species of trees and perennial crops.
Bosque Semilla will support:
Increased access to diverse restoration seed
Conservation of rare and threatened useful species
Expansion of Indigenous-led food forests
Protection of the entry point to Colonso Chalupas Ecologcial Reserve
Community seed sovereignty
Restoration of degraded landscapes
Training opportunities for Indigenous youth and communities
Long-term biodiversity monitoring and propagation
Impact will be monitored through seed production, species survival, restoration area, community participation and biodiversity tracking systems developed together with Indigenous partners.
Our Experience
Fundación Yakum is an Ecuadorian non-profit organization working with Indigenous nations in the western Amazon to strengthen food sovereignty, biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.
Over the last seven years Yakum has collaborated primarily with Siekopai, Cofán and Kichwa communities to establish diverse food forests, native plant nurseries and restoration systems centred around culturally important food and medicinal species.
The organization has also supported the creation of community-based food processing laboratories focused on palms, oils, flours, nuts and other non-timber forest products.
Bosque Semilla represents the next evolution of this work: a long-term living seed sanctuary and regenerative hub supporting restoration and biocultural resilience across the western Amazon.
Use of Funds
Funding raised through this campaign will support:
Land access and legal costs
Nursery establishment
Seed collection logistics
Seed transport and storage
Planting systems and propagation infrastructure
Initial restoration plantings
Basic access infrastructure
Community training and seed exchange activities
Development of the living seed bank systems and collections
The project is currently in its founding phase and early support will directly help establish the physical and ecological foundations of the seed sanctuary.
Project updates
Team
Bosque Semilla: Amazonian Living Seed Bank Forest in Napo, Ecuador
Founded in 2020, Yakum is a Food Planet Prize finalist British–Ecuadorian non-profit, working with Indigenous nations and governing councils in the Amazon to restore degraded land through Cultural Food Forest Landscapes that strengthen biodiversity, food sovereignty and local livelihoods. Over the last seven years, Yakum has collaborated primarily with Siekopai, Cofán and Kichwa communities to regenerate more than 500 hectares of forest and agroforestry systems centred with more than 400 species of fruit trees, palms and medicinal plants. Together, we have established native plant nurseries, seed exchange networks, restoration brigades and community food initiatives linked to cacao, oils, fruits, honey and other non-timber forest products. Yakum’s talented team includes indigenous, Ecuadorian and international women and men, IndigenousGoverning Council leaders,Fellows of the RGS and Linnean Societies of London. Two team members have received The Explorers Club´s "EC50" recognition.
Project story
The Vision
The Bosque Semilla Project (“The Seed Forest”) is a living seed bank and cultural food forest restoration hub being established in the Andean foothills of the Ecuadorian Amazon, near the Colonso-Chalupas Biological Reserve.
The project will exist to support long-term, seven years to date of collaboration between Fundación Yakum and Indigenous Kichwa, Siekopai and Cofán communities working to restore biodiversity, strengthen food sovereignty and recover traditional ecological knowledge through culturally rooted forest garden systems.
Bosque Semilla aims to become one of the most diverse living collections of useful tropical food and medicinal plants in the region, focused on Pan-Amazonian, Chocó and Central American species important for Indigenous food systems across all Amazonian nations, to support hyperdiverse ecological restoration and climate resilient forest gardens for an unpredictable future.
Background & Challenges
Across the Amazon, many traditional food plants, medicinal species and forest management practices are rapidly disappearing as forests are fragmented, younger generations lose access to traditional knowledge, and communities become increasingly dependent on imported foods and unstable economic systems.
At the same time, restoration initiatives across the region often lack access to diverse native seed sources and propagation systems adapted to local ecological and cultural realities.
Many important Amazonian fruit trees, palms, perennial vegetables and medicinal plants are poorly represented in conventional restoration projects despite their enormous ecological, nutritional and cultural importance.
The Bosque Semilla Project was created to help address this gap through a living system of seed conservation, propagation, food forests and community exchange.
The Solution
The site will function as a living seed vault, propagation and distribution centre and inspiration/training space supporting Indigenous communities and restoration initiatives across the western Amazon.
Alongside conserving rare and culturally important species, Bosque Semilla will produce seeds, seedlings and knowledge for food forests, restoration corridors and community agroforestry systems.
The project will include:
Living collections of more than 800 useful tropical tree species
Seed and seedling production systems
Community nurseries and propagation infrastructure
Training and exchange spaces
Food forest demonstration systems
Seed collection and biodiversity monitoring
Cultural food and medicinal plant gardens
Yakum and its Indigenous partners have already assembled a living collection of hundreds of species and varieties of fruit trees, palms, perennial vegetables and medicinal plants that now urgently require their permanent planting space in Alto Pano, Napo, Ecuador.
How We Regenerate
Yakum works through a methodology “Cultural Food Foress” (concept diagram codesigned with 3 indigenous nations attached)
The approach combines ecological restoration, revitalization of Indigenous food systems, soil restoration and long-term community stewardship into living regenerative landscapes.
Rather than separating conservation, livelihoods and culture, we work to weave them together through diverse food forests centred around culturally important species and practices.
This includes:
Restoration with native and useful species
Recovery of traditional foods and recipes
Women-led food & cooking initiatives
Amazon-wide seed exchange networks
Community nurseries
Non-timber forest product harvesting and processing from forest canopy
Medicinal and nutritional biodiversity research
Long-term ecological stewardship
The project also seeks to create meaningful economic opportunities linked to regenerative forest systems, while strengthening local autonomy and reducing pressure on remaining primary forests.
Tracking Impact
Yakum and its Indigenous partners have already planted more than 450 hectares of cultural food forests and restoration systems across the Ecuadorian Amazon using more than 400 species of trees and perennial crops.
Bosque Semilla will support:
Increased access to diverse restoration seed
Conservation of rare and threatened useful species
Expansion of Indigenous-led food forests
Protection of the entry point to Colonso Chalupas Ecologcial Reserve
Community seed sovereignty
Restoration of degraded landscapes
Training opportunities for Indigenous youth and communities
Long-term biodiversity monitoring and propagation
Impact will be monitored through seed production, species survival, restoration area, community participation and biodiversity tracking systems developed together with Indigenous partners.
Our Experience
Fundación Yakum is an Ecuadorian non-profit organization working with Indigenous nations in the western Amazon to strengthen food sovereignty, biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.
Over the last seven years Yakum has collaborated primarily with Siekopai, Cofán and Kichwa communities to establish diverse food forests, native plant nurseries and restoration systems centred around culturally important food and medicinal species.
The organization has also supported the creation of community-based food processing laboratories focused on palms, oils, flours, nuts and other non-timber forest products.
Bosque Semilla represents the next evolution of this work: a long-term living seed sanctuary and regenerative hub supporting restoration and biocultural resilience across the western Amazon.
Use of Funds
Funding raised through this campaign will support:
Land access and legal costs
Nursery establishment
Seed collection logistics
Seed transport and storage
Planting systems and propagation infrastructure
Initial restoration plantings
Basic access infrastructure
Community training and seed exchange activities
Development of the living seed bank systems and collections
The project is currently in its founding phase and early support will directly help establish the physical and ecological foundations of the seed sanctuary.
Project updates
Team
Location
Ecuador
Round 3
Jul 1-21, 2026
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