"We have taken positively to the mission of Earth Train, to empower Kuna and Emberá youth so that they may be authentic leaders fighting to defend our natural heritage and to repair the harm that many unscrupulous people have caused our Mother Earth. Earth Train has shared valuable work experiences with our Kuna youth leaders. Together with our brothers at the universities and professors and students from universities outside of Panama, we join forces to restore our wounded Earth, to strengthen our culture, to preserve our traditions while making good use of innovative technologies."
- Statement by the Chiefs of the Kuna Nation (reported by Toniel Edman, in his capacity as a reporting secretary to the Kuna General Congress)
Earth Train creates the context for the development of new leaders, new networks, and new tools that catalyze a new paradigm in sustainable environmental and cultural practices.
Earth Train accomplishes its mission through the conduct of research, educational, and training programs in biocultural restoration and conservation, mainly at the organization's permanent facilities in Panama. Earth Train co-founded and manages the Mamoní Valley Preserve east of Panama City and Casa Arias in the historic Casco Antiguo of Panama City.
The Mamoní Valley Preserve serves as a buffer zone along the southwest border of Kuna Yala and the eastern edge of the Chagres National Park. The Preserve, now encompassing over 10,000 acres, is one of the largest private preserves near a capital city in the Americas. Earth Train and the socially positive investment company, Rainforest Capital LLC, are developing the Preserve into a unique world campus for learning and research in the fields of biology, biocultural restoration, sustainable development, green technology, and the arts. Among Earth Train's lead partners are Fundación Danilo Perez; the Kuna General Congress; Panama's Frank Gehry-designed Museum of Biodiversity (BioMuseo); the California Academy of Sciences; the Global Institute of Jazz at Berklee College of Music; and Global Brigades.
Earth Train's multi-cultural executive team is composed of individuals with extensive experience in the fields of international development, education, conservation biology, ecological restoration, agroforestry, and socially positive investment.
Earth Train was started in 1990 by accomplished youth leaders from around North America and formally launched in June 1991 by Sweden's Claes Nobel at an event in the UN General Assembly Hall before 2,000 diplomatic, business, civic, and youth leaders. To learn more about Earth Train's beginnings, please click here.
Centro Madroño is located where you see the orange circle, approximately a three hour car ride from Panama City.
Earth Train is a U.S. federally tax-exempt and not-for-profit international organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Republic of Panamá.
