Rainforest Flow

I plan to scale up field-tested water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs from successful pilot projects to all ten indigenous communities of Manu Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site and global biodiversity hotspot in Peru. Building an integrated, environmentally and socially resilient WASH program for indigenous communities of Manu will serve as a model of sustainable development for the tropical rainforest. 

Pilot projects become hands-on laboratories where indigenous people can learn about technologies to replicate in their own communities. Outreach workshops for regional stakeholders provide a tremendous multiplier potential. In the adjacent lower Urubamba region, 12,000 indigenous people in 35 communities are eager to make better use of royalty payments from the Camisea gas pipeline, and have specifically asked for our help. 

By promoting exchanges among a wider constituency, we will train and inspire indigenous people and regional governments to scale up our model throughout the Andes-Amazon region and across the globe. To this end, I am developing a Global Teaching, Training and Research Center where students, scientists, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and rainforest peoples can test and develop WASH systems to meet the critical challenges their communities must confront in the face of climate change and global pandemics.

I was a successful fashion and advertising photographer in Los Angeles, shooting celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Leonard Cohen. In 1999, I stepped away from this comfortable life in search of deeper meaning, making a trip to a rainforest village in Peru’s world-famous Manu Biosphere Reserve.

I founded a charity and began with education, providing tutors to indigenous students. But seeing children with chronic diarrhea and malnutrition, I realized more fundamental change was needed. So I shifted my focus to water and health. 

I had no experience in the rainforest, so I contacted Peruvian and American engineers, anthropologists and physicians, and together we created a unique project delivering water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in harmony with the local environment and culture. Within a few years, intestinal parasites, diarrhea and infant mortality dropped and people were visibly healthier.

On this unlikely path I found my purpose in life. Today, our internationally recognized project has transformed health and well-being in four rainforest communities. We are ready to scale up these proven interventions to create a model for health and sanitation across the Andes-Amazon region. Our Global Teaching, Training and Research Center will share these vital technologies and experiences with the world. 

Although the Amazon is the world’s largest source of fresh water, the concentration of once dispersed indigenous populations has caused water contamination, malnutrition and anemia. Globally, 15% of the world’s population lacks access to safe water, and a million people die each year from waterborne illnesses.

Before we began our work, 90% of the population had intestinal parasites, 39% of children showed chronic malnutrition and 40% of children were anemic. As a UNESCO world heritage site, Manu has been a focus for scientific research, international tourism and conservation initiatives, but indigenous people have received minimal benefits.

Rainforest Flow builds practical, effective water and sanitation systems in rainforest communities. Slow sand filters in portable geomembrane tanks use local rock and sand to remove 99.99% of pathogenic viruses, cysts and bacteria. Water is delivered by gravity flow to sturdy tap stands and robust, well-ventilated bathrooms with eco-friendly bio-digesters.

Our methodology is successful because we work together with communities and an interdisciplinary team of specialists. We train community leaders to maintain, repair and expand their own systems. By delivering WASH to 3000 indigenous people in this global biodiversity hotspot, we will create a model of sustainable health and community empowerment for tropical forests.

In today’s hyperconnected world, sometimes innovation is about getting back to the basics. Nothing is more essential to life than water, and yet fully one third of the world’s population does not have access to safe water or sanitation. Our project uses the centuries-old technology of slow sand filtration, harnessing natural processes and local materials to remove pathogens and make water safe to drink, without boiling or chemicals. 

Taking advantage of the topography in the upper Amazon, we use gravity to deliver clean water to households without the need for pumps. Our filtering system uses portable NSF-61 geomembrane tanks that can be set up in several days. We have fine-tuned these technologies to the local cultural and environmental context. 

The structures we build are sturdy and easy to maintain, but also elegant and aesthetically harmonious with their surroundings. We invest in community organization and training to ensure long-term results. Our project is unique in the Peruvian Amazon, which elsewhere is littered with broken infrastructure that delivers no benefits despite tremendous financial and environmental cost. 

Our innovative WASH programs are effective and easily multipliable, fulfilling a key global development goal while building local peoples’ resilience in this crucial biodiversity hotspot.

Reconciling biodiversity conservation with human welfare is among the greatest challenges facing humanity. Rainforest Flow has the potential to bring transformative health and social changes to hundreds, if not thousands of indigenous and other forest communities throughout the Andes-Amazon and other tropical regions. We will replicate our proven technologies and training programs by forming interdisciplinary and multicultural partnerships, bringing health and empowerment to tropical forest peoples. Our project has already contributed to building an effective firewall against Covid-19 throughout Manu.

Our efforts will bring clean water and sanitation technologies to all ten indigenous communities of Manu Biosphere Reserve, improving health conditions for over 2500 indigenous people and more than doubling the reach of existing programs. Project impact is quantified by the number of households with access to safe drinking water. Improvements in water quality are easily measured through microbiological testing of water sources. Long-term impacts are measurable through baseline and follow-up health studies.

Outreach and field workshops with regional indigenous leaders, municipal governments, protected area representatives and health care workers are  empowering local people and building capacity among Peruvian professionals. At the broadest level, our project is strengthening the alliance between environmental conservation and human well-being in this biodiversity hotspot.