C.I.D.E.S.A. in Comuna Rio Santiago Cayapas, a collective of tagua harvesters and carvers.

Purchasing tagua nut buttons provides income to indigenous people in rainforest areas and reduces their need to cut the rainforest for agricultural or logging purposes.

The Tagua Initiative™

One of the most biodiverse areas of the world, Ecuador’s rainforests are also among the world’s most endangered ecosystems.

Under economic pressures, local farmers were forced to clear land for barely tenable crop growth and cattle grazing, and to sell the rainforest lumber. In 1990, Conservation International began their program to market nontimber rainforest products, including tagua, tree oils, plant fibers, latexes, fruits and nuts. The Tagua Initiative™, an alliance between Conservation International and local groups, was formed to link rural tagua harvesters with companies using tagua for buttons, crafts, and jewelry.

After a ten year alliance, the Tagua Initiative™ has concluded, with the individual groups taking over responsibility for harvesting and marketing the raw tauga and finished products. TI™ has successfully sold more that 6.4 million pounds of tagua nuts, creating 8 community enterprises employing 2000 people.and saving millions of acres of rainforest.

What is Tagua?

The nut of a native palm tree, tagua is also known as corozo or vegetable ivory. Inedible, dried tagua looks like animal ivory and can be carved and dyed.

In the early 1900’s, before the advent of inexpensive plastics, one in every five buttons produced in the U.S. was made of tagua.