Fundacion Socioambiental Semilla

About our country

Bolivia is one of the 15th most biodiverse countries in the world. The variety of bio-geographical conditions of the country, have privileged it with various type of ecosystems and a very important ethnic and sociocultural diversity, with a wealth of 36 indigenous peoples that inhabit territories of global importance, such as the Amazon rainforest, the Andes, the Great American Chaco, among others.

But in addition to that, Bolivia is facing a very complicated environmental situation. The expansion of the agribusiness as one of the main models of economic development, mining, and large infrastructure projects, are contributing to the continuous deterioration of natural resources, putting at risk the ecosystems and the rights of the communities.

In the year 2022, the country ranked third among the 10 countries with the highest deforestation worldwide. This has put a lot of pressure over the 53 million hectares of Bolivian tropical forest. Also, the national economy has an alarming dependence on the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources, without considering the country’s greatest vulnerability to climate change.

Our mission

The Fundacion Socioambiental Semilla mission is to support community-based projects that contributes to the conservation of the Bolivian ecosystems.

Our main value is that we are a locally founded foundation that was created by Bolivian environmentalists, who believe the only way to protect our ecosystems is to make timely resources available to support local grassroots organizations that are facing the negative impact of environmental devastation, and at the same time, proposing just and sustainable alternatives to protect communities’ rights and territories in all the ecosystems of the country.

Fundación Semilla's mail goal is to make culturally sensitive funding available in local currency to community-based groups and small organizations who are the most vulnerable to environmental destruction, while also the main guardians of Bolivia's most important biodiversity regions. We have developed a financing structure to coordinate the reception of resources with a proven mechanism of local donations.

Our strategy consists of a solid comprehension of the local context and challenges that Bolivian communities face. This is possible thanks to the previous experience of our founding members, whom have been working over many years with communities and indigenous groups in different ecosystems across the country.

As part of our strategy, our Foundation’s main programs are:

1. The Amazonia program, which supports projects and initiatives that promote the sustainability and conservation of the Bolivian Amazon.
2. The GAGGA (Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action) program, which supports projects related to Gender Just Climate Solutions, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, the protection of critical ecosystems and the strengthening of women's leadership.
3. The Blue Foresta program, which supports independent environmental journalism in Bolivia.
4. The Chaco and Pantanal program, which aims to support projects that solve problems caused by climate change, through Nature Based Solutions (NBS) initiatives in the Great American Chaco and the Pantanal of Bolivia.