About Us

Sagittaria fights against the destruction of the rainforest

The volunteer-led non-profit organisation Sagittaria has been campaigning for the protection of the world’s most species-rich forest, the Atlantic Forest, since 1988. With the help of donations, areas of rainforest are purchased in the Argentinian province of Misiones. The organisation then returns the valuable subtropical rainforest to the former forest nomads Mbyá. In this way, the indigenous people not only regain their livelihood, but also protect the rainforest from deforestation and safeguard its unique biodiversity.

About the origins of our organisation

Sagittaria was once founded as a support organisation for the Argentinian Pampa Reserve Foundation Federico Wildermuth and is now an independent organisation. Sagittaria’s approach of saving primeval forest by purchasing it and returning it to the Mbyá originated from the head of the Mbyá community, Takuapí, himself. As the Swiss association for environmental protection in Argentina, Sagittaria has been able to return 926 hectares of subtropical rainforest to the indigenous people over the past 35 years – and thus save it from brutal deforestation. To date, five Mbyá communities, each with 20 to 100 members, have benefited from this.

Sagittaria has a transparent and lean structure

Sagittaria is a small association. All administration is carried out on a voluntary basis. Donations are therefore only used for the acquisition of forest and forestable sites and the directly associated costs. These include notary fees, travelling for community members to the provincial capital and botanical surveys to document biodiversity.
Sagittaria has a such a compact scale and level of transparency that we have so far avoided the very costly ZEWO certification process. However, we are on the Aargau cantonal list of charitable organisations entitled to deductions. The canton has an overview of and insight into Sagittaria. Donations can be deducted from taxes in Switzerland.
Sagittaria buys Atlantic primeval forest and gives it into the common ownership of the indigenous communities. For this purpose, a legal entity is established for each community, which does not have to pay taxes, but in return is not allowed to resell, mortgage or commercially utilise the forest. This ensures that the rainforest remains the property of the respective community.

Sagittaria builds upon local contacts

To efficiently achieve its goals, Sagittaria has relied on local contacts from the very beginning. These include:

• Aty´-Assembly
  Meeting of the leaders of the Indigenous communities
• Jachuká Reté
  Coordinator of the Aty´-Assembly
• Dr. med. Mariana Mampaey
  Contact person for the Mbyá
• Stiftung Federico Wildermuth
  The Argentine, volunteer-run association fights for Pampa reserves, where endangered flora and fauna are protected from excessive agriculture with monocultures and pesticide use. Since 2013, the organisation has exclusively invested in the purchase of Atlantic Rainforest.
  https://fundacionfw.org.ar
• Equipo Nacional de Pastoral Aborígen ENDEPA
  The Catholic organisation for Indigenous peoples from Aristóbulo del Malle is committed to ecumenical practice and interreligious dialogue.
  https://endepa.org.ar

Our Board

The Sagittaria association is run by volunteers and consists of over 50 members and a board of eight people with diverse backgrounds. They ensure that the money donated goes towards land acquisition, and thus towards rainforest and climate protection. The Sagittaria board is composed as follows:

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