About Us
Dr. Philip Tanimoto
founded the Cloud Forest Conservation Initiative after laying the ground work in 2007-2008.
Executive Director Tanimoto ‘discovered’ the little-known Cerro Amay Cloud Forest Ecosystem during his doctoral research on cloud forest birds in 2006. He founded the Cloud Forest Conservation Initiative in 2009, and since then, he has guided our projects and expanded our conservation approach.
Development for sustainable, community-based forest restoration
We have linked community investment in new macadamia plantations by the Conservation-Macadamia Exchange (ICM Program) with the abandonment and ecological restoration of agricultural fields in the cloud forest. Through the BWI Program, we provide long-term economic incentives to restore and protect cloud forest.
Biodiversity research
Biodiversity is key to the protection of Cerro El Amay, which is why we continue to conduct biological studies and document the ecological treasures of the forest.