Tagua Jewelry—from the Rainforest with Love!

NCP has added tagua jewelry to its product line—and what an addition it is! Also known as “vegetable ivory,” tagua is sustainably harvested by native communities from a rainforest shrub in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Once ripe, the nut has the hardness, color and workability of ivory—but without harming the precious pachyderms! Plus, as a natural rainforest plant (unlike cocoa or palm or other introduced crops), it thrives where the forest is not cut down!

After harvest, the tagua is fashioned into pendants featuring endangered species from the rainforest and around the world. A portion of each sale supports the work of NCP partner SELVA, an Ecuadorian nonprofit determined to preserve the Amazon and the people who call it home.

Available designs: dolphin, elephant, hammerhead shark (necklace included)

Price $15 (plus $3 shipping)

Saving the rainforest is complicated business, but helping native communities earn an income by utilizing natural rainforest products is one of the keys. Purchase for yourself or request a quantity to sell in your church, school or club. Contact Heidi Gross for more info or to place an order (hgross@newcommunityproject.org).

Meet the producers! Join our Learning Tour to the Ecuadorian Amazon and meet the people who gather the tagua—and the trees it grows on!