Sustainable Livelihoods
We work with communities living in the Congo River Basin to develop sustainable income projects that conserve rainforest, protect wildlife, and improve the lives of the people.
Go Conscious Earth puts people at the heart of our conservation approach.
For the communities who have sought our assistance in establishing their community forestry concessions, we work to improve the health of land and people. While emphasizing the importance of environmental protections and the global importance of the Congo River Basin for the mitigation of climate change, we work with the people to develop sustainable living projects such as beekeeping, agroecology and permaculture, solar energy, fish farming, and cocoa production that allow communities to increase yields and generate income, while reducing deforestation and harmful impacts on wildlife populations.
Our Projects
Sustainable Subsistence Farming
Go Conscious Earth offers sustainable agricultural training to families and communities who have been food insecure and malnourished due to encroachment from - and climate instability caused by - industrial agribusiness. Communities we support want to engage in forest-friendly practices and are committed to developing conservation techniques that increase yields while stewarding land and water resources.
GCEarth teaches organic permaculture methods such as soil building, composting, creating organic pesticides, and seed saving. Seed saving helps farmers gain independence from expensive suppliers, ensuring reliable access to food and health.
Nutrition, access to clean water, and basic sanitation are linked: eliminating waterborne disease and parasites improves health and increases yields. Finally, those who go through our sustainable agriculture training program become teachers themselves, passing on this vital knowledge to benefit others.
Deep Well Water Installation & Repair
The GCE Water Team is a group of villagers from Ikoko Bonginde who have been trained and equipped with the Village Drill technology. The team is employable regionally for well installations, repair, and maintenance. GCE has provided all equipment, training, and employment to the Water Team for all 17 well installations and continues to employ the team for well maintenance. The GCE Water Team can install wells at a greatly reduced cost compared to standard “big rig” well installations. Additionally, their expertise in well maintenance ensures long-term success rates for clean water initiatives in the region.
Cacao Cultivation
Go Conscious Earth supports farmers in growing sustainable cocao thereby improving and investing in their family’s and community’s future livelihoods.
Cacao cultivation is an ideal, marketable, non-timber forest product, as it grows beneath the forest canopy. Farmers are trained in good agricultural and fair trade practices to increase yields and quality. We also address social challenges, including the empowerment of marginalized people such as women and aboriginal communities, as well as addressing harmful child labor practices.
Fuel Efficient Stoves
Deforestation is one of the largest contributors to climate change and habitat loss for endangered species. And in poverty stricken areas, wood cutting for cooking fuel is especially necessary for human communities.
Go Conscious Earth works with communities to eliminate deforestation within their community forests. Part of our efforts include burning fuel more efficiently. We teach how to build and cook with “rocket” stoves, a type of stove that offers near complete combustion of scrap wood and small branches considered far too small to call firewood. Rocket stoves are extremely efficient and burn ultra-clean.
Built from common, readily available materials, they also reduce air pollution while decreasing harm to the lungs of women and children, who typically gather around dirty-burning conventional stoves while cooking. And because women and children are responsible for firewood gathering, this type of stove allows them to focus instead on more important activities such as increasing yields on sustainable farms, thereby serving to eradicate poverty and allow the conservation of the natural world.
Fish Farming
Sustainable fish farming is the solution to overfishing in Lake Tumba. Fish populations there are plummeting due to introduction and overuse of fine mesh nets which scoop up everything in the lake including vulnerable juveniles which used to avoid capture in traditional handmade nets. Long-term sustainable income generation is also possible with this endeavor, as a new sustainably grown and harvested product hits local markets.
Bees and Honey
In our quest to create alternative livelihood options for Congo Basin Rainforest communities, we will begin providing beekeeping equipment and training, thereby assisting people in the production and harvest of honey, wax, and propolis for community use and income generation.
Improving livelihoods while conserving rainforest ensures human, plant, and wildlife communities can live sustainably together into a thriving future.
