Years in the Abanico Del Pastaza - Why We Are Here Stop Theto Degradation of the Planet’S Natural Environment and to Build a Nature
LESSONS LEARNED years10 in + the Abanico del Pastaza Nature, cultures and challenges in the Northern Peruvian Amazon In the Abanico del Pastaza, the largest wetland complex in the Peruvian Amazon, some of the most successful and encouraging conservation stories were written. But, at the same time, these were also some of the toughest and most complex in terms of efforts and sacrifices by its people, in order to restore and safeguard the vital link between the health of the surrounding nature and their own. This short review of stories and lessons, which aims to share the example of the Achuar, Quechua, Kandozi and their kindred peoples with the rest of the world, is dedicated to them. When, in the late nineties, the PREFACE WWF team ventured into the © DIEGO PÉREZ / WWF vast complex of wetlands surrounding the Pastaza river, they did not realize that what they thought to be a “traditional” two-year project would become one of their longest interventions, including major challenges and innovations, both in Peru and in the Amazon basin. The small team, mainly made up of biologists and field technicians, aspired to technically support the creation of a natural protected area to guarantee the conservation of the high local natural diversity, which is also the basis to one of the highest rates of fishing productivity in the Amazon. Soon it became clear that this would not be a routine experience but, on the contrary, it would mark a sort of revolution in the way WWF Patricia León Melgar had addressed conservation in the Amazon until then.
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