CRACYP (which stands for Rural Reforestation and Progress Network Corporation, in Spanish) is a non profit organisation facilitating reforestation and sustainable rural development in an agricultural area of extreme poverty including over 200 communities in the foothills of the Western Andes in Ecuador. 

Our mission is "Progreso Verde" or "Green Progress" - that is, social and economic development, but in a way which protects the environment.  We build environmental awareness and motivate and assist local communities to take practical conservation action.  Our sustainable development projects help to increase incomes to the point where people are able to think further ahead than the next meal and can afford to care about the environment. 

The 'price' of our help is that they must use a small percentage of the extra income to plant trees - which stabilize and enrich their land and provide them with fruits or other useful products.

CRACYP's "Green Progress" projects are long-term.  We train people in techniques for sustainable agriculture and appropriate technology to add value to their crops by processing them locally rather than selling them as raw materials, and provide ongoing support.  We advise on and assist with the reforestation process.  In this way the communities improve their quality of life and preserve the environment on which their future depends.

This website is updated frequently so please visit again soon for the latest information about our "Green Progress" reforestation and sustainable development projects in rural communities in Ecuador, which include ecotourism , recycling plastics, irrigation systems, organic agriculture, scholarships, rescue of sensitive ecosystems in the Galapagos Islands, community banks and more. 

Our organic sugar cane farming project now has what we believe to be the world´s only ORGANIC COMMUNITY PRODUCED ALCOHOL on sale on a fair trade basis.   More information at http://www.progresoverde.org/organic_alcohol_fair_trade.html

We may soon have volunteering opportunities in the Galapagos Islands for groups - watch this space.