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Regenerative Project

Regenerative 2030

  • Restore Uru Uru Lake affected by hazardous mining activities, plastic pollution, and climate change.

The Uru Uru team is a community organisation focused on restoring an important wetland in Bolivia, Uru Uru Lake. The Lake has been detrimentally affected by nearby hazardous mining activities, plastic pollution, and climate change. As a community, they are working on the restoration of Uru Uru Lake through an eco-friendly solution based on their traditional knowledge. They build floating rafts from the plastic waste that is thrown into the lake. These floating rafts are used as sustainers where a local plant called Totoras is secured, and then the rafts with the Totoras are placed into the lake. Totoras are native aquatic plants that, through a phytoremediation process, absorb heavy metals from the polluted waters of the Uru Uru Lake.

The Uru Uru Team created a community garden to protect the community's food sovereignty, where they raise vegetables and fruits because the mining company destroyed their soils, making it no good for healthy food crops. The garden produces enough crops to help their cause be somewhat self-sustaining to fund the implementation of more floating rafts in the Uru Uru Lake.

The Uru Uru Team leads community dialogues to galvanise community action. The Uru Uru Team is pressuring the Bolivian government to stop mining activities.

The fundraising target is AUD$6500. The funding will be used to:

> Implement 1000 floating rafts with the native aquatic plants.

> Expand the size of our community garden by diversifying the variety of vegetables and fruits increasing to 2 varieties of vegetables and 1 variety of fruit.

> Arrange 3 environmental awareness campaigns into universities and schools to stop the accumulation of plastic and have a direct way that they can donate us to build the floating rafts.

> Conduct follow-up to the actions that we have presented as a community and push the Oruro government to work into the implementation of policies, and laws that can ban the mining activities.

> Purchase 40 x workwear appropriate for conservation activities.

Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health And Well-being:  Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development.

Quality Education:  Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development.

Clean Water And Sanitation:  Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in.

Sustainable Cities And Communities:  There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.

Climate Action:  Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.

Peace Justice And Strong Institutions:  Access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

Partnerships For The Goals:  Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

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Impacts

  • The Totoras have reduced the polluted waters of Uru Uru Lake by 30%
  • Preservation of a sacred ecosystem that is the vital source of water for seven indigenous communities and more than 75 species of birds, unique flora and fauna.

Outcomes

To stop the migration of Indigenous people.

Mitigate the risk of a climate refugee population.

Avoid the loss of our cultural heritage.

Recover food sovereignty.

Rebuild an economy (based on agriculture and raising cattle).

Background

The Uru Uru Lake is being polluted by mining companies with heavy pollutants that are killing the ecosystems, the flora, fauna, and the local community, which depends on the water of the Uru Uru Lake.

In 2006, Uru Uru Lake was designated as a Ramsar site. It is home to more than 76 species of birds, including the Andean, Chilean, and James’s flamingos, with a population of approximately 12000 flamingos. Despite this important designation, mining companies do not work toward protecting the lake.

Seven Indigenous communities will become climate refugees if the lake is not protected.

The Uru Uru project received recognition from the Swedish Embassy and UNICEF and won the UNDP Equator Prize.

Adventure Highlighted Video

Restore Uru Uru Lake | World Expeditions Fund Regenerative 2030 Project

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