Picaflores.org

The Picaflores™ platform aims to realize a tangible impact on the sustainability of our planet. The engine for this consists on the one hand of sustainable projects and initiatives that are encouraged, certified and supported by Picaflores.org volunteers. On the other hand, it consists of a direct contribution to nature conservation and landscape restoration. The earnings of Picaflores consist of donations, legacies and sustainable projects and companies that donate part of their profits to Picaflores.org. Projects and initiatives can be certified with the Picaflores™ quality label if they are aimed at realizing a direct impact on sustainability and improvement of the living conditions of our world and meet a number of related criteria and core values. The starting point for the initiatives that Picaflores.org focuses on is that these are ultimately self-sustainable. This means that no (permanent) subsidy is needed to carry out the projects and initiatives.

Picaflores.org is an ANBI foundation (PBO) without a financial profit target, aimed at realizing a tangible impact on the sustainability of the world.

Picaflores.org serves the general interest and has the following three statutory objectives:

• promoting a circular economy;
• promoting sustainable living and producing;
• nature conservation and nature and landscape restoration.

The actual activities of the foundation consist of the following:

• Research on sustainable alternatives and developing these up to a concept business plan level that can be picked up by the market.
• Stimulating the start-up of sustainable projects, programs and initiatives
• Supporting the plan-phase of sustainable initiatives where necessary with volunteers.
• The awarding of the Picaflores quality label to sustainable projects and initiatives that meet the criteria.

• Directly contributing to nature conservation and landscape restoration with the accumulated assets from donation

The success of an organization and a project depends to a large extent on the people involved and the drive and motivation they bring in. This aspect is taken into consideration in the Picaflores quality label that is based on a number of guidelines, principles and core values. Future participants and partners are asked to commit to this quality label. The quality label forms the set of shared values that bind the contributing partners. The successful organization concept of SemCo (Harvard laureate Ricardo Semler) has been one of the sources of inspiration here.

The board of Picaflores.org acts as a guardian of the Picaflores™ quality label. The board is supported by an advisory board, partly fixed and partly dynamic in composition, which ensures that the board continues to operate in a sharp, pristine way and in line with the objectives.

Three pillars have been defined for the focus areas of Picaflores.org, in line with the three statutory objectives: Picaflor, Kolibri and Tonkiry. These three names all refer to the hummingbird.

The hummingbird is chosen as a symbol because of the significance for the original inhabitants of the Amazon: the messenger of the universe. On the other hand, the name symbolizes the impact of the individual who takes responsibility for the environment. This is beautifully visualized in accompanying speech of Prof. dr. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2004.

Picaflor™ is the first pillar and focuses on concepts and initiatives on waste reduction and circular economy. An analysis has been made of, in particular, the waste plastic problem in the world, and a follow-up study (Plastic4Life) is carried out with students from the Technical University in Delft, The Netherlands. In addition, a concept business case has been realized for an initiative in which waste paste is economically recycled in oil on the basis of existing continuous-flow pyrolysis technology (Plastic2Oil). This offers a transitional solution that gives value to waste plastic so that waste management becomes profitable and the waste plastic is removed from the environment (an important piece of the waste plastic puzzle).

Kolibri™ is the second pillar and focuses on concepts and initiatives relating to sustainable living and producing. Three concept areas are distinguished in which concepts are worked out to the level of a concept business case (for more information see the Kolibri tab):

• Forms of community living (& sharing) with cohesion as well as freedom
• Sustainable production of crops and derived products
• Sustainable business

Tonkiry™ is the third pillar and focuses on concepts and initiatives related to nature conservation and nature and landscape restoration as well as on awareness, information and education on sustainable living and production. Donations from private individuals and companies and from the Picaflor and Kolibri initiatives ensure the financing of the Tonkiry projects. A first initiative concerns the start-up of a foundation in Peru that deals with the purchase and management of rainforest that is located in risk areas around the jungle cities of Iquitos and Pucallpa. Several local actors are considering placing their already purchased land in such a foundation as the start of a number of protected nature reserves managed by the local foundation. If this is successful and the local foundation meets the criteria of the Picaflores quality label, Picaflores wants to support this foundation with financial resources and expertise from the Tonkiry pillar.

The Picaflores concept was born in Peru in 2017 as an idea of the brothers Cees Buijs (Netherlands), Jan Paul Buijs (Belgium), Julio Arce (University of Iquitos, Peru) and José Campos (local leader from Pucallpa, Peru). Subsequently, the idea evolved with the help of Kees Mensch, Peter Rouffa and Theo Fens. They contributed to the development of the Picaflores.org concept as it is now.

As initiators of the concept we felt that we have a personal responsibility to contribute to a solution for the preservation of our planet for future generations. The Picaflores concept will give many people worldwide the opportunity to do the same and make a personal and direct contribution in a tangible way. Please join if you think you can help realize this goal.

Our mission is threefold:

• To have a significant impact on the conservation of nature, on landscape restoration and on reducing pollution in this world, in a humane and ethically responsible manner.

• To develop concepts for sustainable living and production, among others inspired by the tribal social structure in which people live and work together and take responsibility for their environment and for each other.

• Create awareness and provide a meaningful future for (young) people and bring them into their strength.

Our vision

It is our view that there is an alternative to the current growth-based economic model that can be realized in a non-disruptive way. In the Picaflores concept, there is a significant value attached to nature and societal health, as in the well-known PPP model (People, Planet, Profit). In the end, it is all about a sustainable future for all life on this planet and about finding our own authentic inspiration to contribute to this in a way that suits us.

There has been a sharp increase in consciousness in the world in recent years, especially among the younger generations. People long for change on aspects of societal health, environmental care and nature conservation. The growth-based economic model, in which almost no value is placed on nature and social health, did not make us happier. With Picaflores.org we offer people the opportunity to participate and contribute to the sustainability of our planet.