[ [link removed] ]Melipona beekeepers Guillermo Valverde Azofeifa, 63, and Andrea Mora
Montero, 37, with their children, Valeria, 19, and Kevin, 11. In their
garden in Iztarú, Costa Rica, they have 50 hives that are home to seven
different species of the Melipona stingless bee that are native to Central
America.
John,
For decades, Guillermo and Andrea have kept rare stingless bees on their
small farm in rural Costa Rica, making a basic living selling honey from
the hives.
But now their bees are under attack: half their hives have been lost to
poison pesticides sprayed by neighbouring mega-farms growing crops like
pineapple for mass export.
Guillermo and Andrea are desperate and asking for help. Months ago, they
started legal proceedings for an injunction, but the mega-farmers are
politically powerful, and local authorities don’t care about pollinator
conservation, telling them, “we don’t know anything about bees.”
There are capable lawyers that could stand up for their family, but they
simply can’t afford it.
We’ve fought battles like this before. If enough of us chip in the cost of
a coffee or a meal, we can hire them a great lawyer, and even put up
security cameras to provide critical evidence! Click to help Guillermo and
Andrea defend their family farm – and set a precedent that could protect
small farms across the country:
[ [link removed] ]Donate
$3[ [link removed] ]Donate
another amount
Guillermo and Andrea are passionate about their Melipona stingless bees,
native to the area and crucial for pollinating tropical fruit trees,
crops, and wild plants. Stingless bees like these were considered gods by
the Mayan people, and this family has dedicated their lives to ensuring
their survival.
But in recent years, mega monoculture farms growing cassava and pineapple
for export have expanded rapidly in the area, clearing protected forests
along the way. The mega-farmers are hostile to the family, even coming up
to the property line and directly spraying bee-killing pesticides into
their garden when Guillermo and Andrea go out to sell their products.
If it continues like this, the family will be ruined, and their project to
sustain these bees will be over. And every day they fail to get an
injunction from the courts, more bees die – “some are even dying now, from
the latest spraying,” says Guillermo.
They’ve almost lost hope, but SumOfUs members have a history of standing
up for small farms and regular people being bullied by big business and
pesticide giants.
If enough of us chip in urgently, we can send a top lawyer to help
Guillermo and Andrea stop the spraying, put up security fences to prevent
the direct attacks, install security cameras to catch them in the act –
and protect this special farm and its bees for decades to come. Click to
help:
[ [link removed] ]Donate
$3[ [link removed] ]Donate
another amount
Andrea says they “feel that nobody really recognizes the importance of the
bees; we’re fighting this battle alone. It makes me so sad to see the
Meliponas die.” Let’s show these small farmers they aren’t alone, and that
our global community is here for them – and their bees.
Thanks for all that you do,
Danny and the SumOfUs team
---------------------------------
More information:
[ [link removed] ]For a beekeeping couple in Costa Rica, pesticides are killing the buzz,
Mongabay, 1 April 2022.
SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.
Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]
