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Hi! we are Andean Bear’s Friends Club (Club Amigos del Oso Frontino)... an environmental education initiative promoted by AndígenA foundation from Venezuela.

Andean Bear’s Friends Club arose on 2005 (17 years ago) and since then, we have kept an active work focused on the importance to protect the Andean bear and its habitat. Our purpose has been always fostering the environmental education and public interest regarding this enigmatic and majestic creature beside reinforce the efforts conservation in the Venezuela and other countries from South America.

The activities of the Andean Bear’s Friends Club have been sustained as a volunteer work and the occasional financial aid from several organizations and individuals committed to wildlife conservation. However, this support has not been regular and during last 3 years we have not received any kind of contribution to sustain the educational work. For this reason, we ask today for your generous attention and support.

Andean Bear, an Endangered Species

Andean bear or spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only bear native to South America. With fewer than 1,000 left in the wild in Venezuela and the pressures on it increasing daily, the few remaining Andean bears are in grave danger of becoming pinned-down in very small areas which severely limit their ability to behave naturally and move about normally.

Contrary to popular belief, Andean bear diet is almost exclusively vegetarian and just a very small portion of its meal is from animal origin. Its highly powerful jaws enable it to crack the bamboo plants, bromeliads, palms and all kinds of forest fruits.

Killed Through Ignorance and Fear

If this cautious and shy creature is spotted near to croplands and farms, it is persecuted and killed on the pretext that it may prey on livestock or trample the crops. This is in spite of the fact that only 20% of its diet is of carnivorous origin.

The truth lies elsewhere, inextricably bound up with the folklore and mysticism of the rural people. Killing a bear confers on the “victor” all the enormous strength of the victim and the victor's status in the community rises accordingly. All the bear's organs are thought to contain magical properties and nothing is wasted; for example, the fat is believed to cure wounds, traumas, rheumatism and arthritis. The meat, too, is highly valued for its taste. It is not surprising that important sums change hands in this trade.

In a country as Venezuela, killing a bear is illegal, but the law is ignored and the hunting provides a welcome boost to a precarious family income. In a country where the economic outlook is bleak, it is very possible that this barbaric practice will only increase in the coming years.

Disappearing Habitat

Habitat loss is the other threat to guarantee a prosperous future for the bear in the Venezuela Andes. In fact, this is probably the main threat because once the habitat is lost the conflicts arisen with the rural people.

In earlier times, the Andean bear was able to roam freely in response to the seasonal ripening of fruits, from the foothills of the Andes to the “high Andean pasturelands”, perpetually enveloped in mist.

Increasing numbers of people and their unrelenting poverty inevitably mean that large areas of forest are cleared; felled timber is used as firewood and crops occupies the former forested areas. The fragments of remaining forest imprisoning the bears, restricting their natural food supply and chances of finding a suitable mate. Where so few individuals remain, every bear dead significantly reduce the chances of the species as a whole surviving.

All these problems compound each other and the resulting situation seems hopeless. Saving this beautiful creature is a complex and daunting task, but we have mapped a conservation strategy which we are determined to pursue.

A Conservation Ambassador

In a country like Venezuela where day to day survival takes up all the people's time and energy, conservation issues are generally very low priority so the enormity of the task should not be underestimated. But working to save the Andean bear will eventually bring in its wake other enormous benefits to the people and the nature as a whole. We hope this work will eventually enable the cycle of poverty to be well managed.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCARTION IS THE KEY…

Time, which sometimes acts for or against the conservation initiatives, it has allowed us recognize that ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION is the best way to guarantee the Andean bear survival as well as the nature conservation as a whole. Without education, people's awareness will never be raised to recognize the real value of the nature, which goes beyond of an economic or aesthetic issue. Recognizing the Andean bear's ecological and cultural importance will make us their true protectors.

Saving the Andean bear and its habitat will contribute towards:

• To conserve the tropical ecosystems, especially the cloud forest and meadows from the highlands.
• To protect the watersheds, vital for the people and to irrigate the lands and to produce electric energy.
• To protect the soil from erosion so that the land will continue to support agriculture and to prevent natural disasters.

Andean bear is a flagship species in the tropical Andes; the symbol to foster important conservation efforts in the most biodiverse regions on Earth.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR NOW?

We are still committed to continue our educational work in the near future but all it will depend of the financial support than we can get now.

During this year 2022, an strategic Alliance was established between Andigena Foundation and several educational centers from Merida, Venezuela. Through this joint effort we want to start and sustain a “Distante Learning Program” in favor of bear conservation and the mountain environments.

Our work will also be a humble tribute to the memory of Michael “Mike” Dee (†), a wonderful human being who listened our first call of support during August 2017. His life is a true inspiration for all people connected in their hearts to the wildlife conservation. We are all involved in this utopian idea of protecting the Andean bear in Venezuela, a wonderful country full of contrasts.

AIMS

Increase people awareness in favor of Andean bear’s conservation and its habitat with emphasis in Merida mountains from the Venezuelan Andes:

• by developing hands-on, education activities for various grade levels.
• by using in the environmental education, the most updated information about bear ecology.
• by creating and distributing educational materials for free use in educational centers and other community-base organizations.
• by using the Andean bear as a “focal species” for the conservation in some wild areas from Venezuela, especially national parks.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the environmental education for future implementation in specific areas of the Andean bear’s range in Venezuela:

• by measuring attitude changes in students and parents regarding the Andean bear conservation in the work areas.

WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN A FEW DOLLARS MAKE?

Maybe one single dollar means nothing to many people in developing countries, but for us in Venezuela is a concrete possibility to sustain a wonderful long-term wildlife conservation project based on environmental education as strategy to spread interest and love for Andean bear's conservation and its habitat. One single dollar can help us to sustain an active work in favor to wildlife conservation.

Each contribition that you give through this campaign it will allows us to provide education to our closer neighbors, especially children from the urban and rural areas and sustain an informative page about Andean bear on Facebook and blogspot, both entitled "Club Amigos del Oso Frontino".

Your contribution is a precious opportunity to recognize the real value of the nature and our responsibility with its future. Please, consider your sincere support today and so we can make together a difference in this world full of contrast.

WHAT THE MONEY RAISED WILL BE USED FOR?

The money raised through this campaign it will allow us to sustain the educational initiatives during six months of the year 2022 (February-August). We will produce new original educational materials in order to reinforce a Distance Learning Program through our page on Facebook “ Club Amigos del Oso Frontino” and our website: https://clubamigosdeloso.blogspot.com.

We Want:

• Pay professional fees linked to the production of educational materials (pamphlets, posters, educational sheets, multimedia slide shows, etc.).
• Pay administrative expenses (communication: mail, phone, internet, etc.).
• Pay hosting and domain for a better Website.
• Eventually pay the living expenses (meals, accommodations and fuel) during the visits to educational centers (mainly elementary schools and high schools): 1 visit each 15 days / 3 people.

PROJECT OUTPUTS

• Publication of regular information through our Facebook Page “ Club Amigos del Oso Frontino” and website.
• Production of a coloring book about Andean bear.
• Production of an update educational presentation (slideshow) about Andean bear in Venezuela which can be freely used as educational tool by teachers at schools as well as the general public.
• Production of new pamphlets focused on Andean bear natural history and conservation.
• Development of a series of virtual conferences and talks as part of a Distance Learning Program.

OUTCOMES

• Students and their parents will get qualified information about bear and related environmental conservation issues.
• Children and adults will wake up a stronger awareness and commitment toward the Andean bear conservation and the environment.
• Government’s staff and community leaders will assume a more active role to reinforce local conservation programs.
• Our environmental education initiative will be used as a joint model for other conservation programs in Venezuela and eventually in neighboring countries.

UPDATES   

We will be providing updates and work progress through our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/clubamigosdeloso/ and the website: https://clubamigosdeloso.blogspot.com/

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.” — Baba Dioum, 1968.