Pangea welcomes Green Community Volunteers (GCV) as one of our new partners in Southeast Asia. This organization was founded in 2009, and operates in the Xiangkhouang Province, northeast of Laos. GCV is the only local group in Laos that has been founded and run by indigenous women, and it seeks to empower communities on environmental issues such as biodiversity preservation through art and cultural exchanges. Earth Rights International first introduced Pangea to the work of GCV.
Pangea Giving will support the Community Food Forest Project in the Ngoi district, Luang Prabang province. This project aims to help preserve biodiversity while increasing food security, both of which have been at risk in recent years due to hydropower constructions along the Nam Ou River. The vision of the project is to create a “Food Forest” in which the community can produce their food without compromising the natural resources of the area.
Green Community Volunteers intends to preserve biodiversity by combining traditional knowledge on agricultural and forest preservation strategies, with modern technology like organic fertilizers. At the same time, GCV proposes to engage young people, women, and the elderly in all the aspects of the food forest project from producing organic fertilizer, to harvesting, to marketing.