Defending Our Rainforest a Guide to Community Based Ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon

DEFENDING OUR RAINFOREST A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY BASED ECOTOURISM IN THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON Rolf Wesche Andy Drumm with Nicole Ayotte Katherine Bemben Lindsay Collis Marijo Cyr Sylvestre Fink Martin Gamache Isabelle Gariépy Jonathan Godin Kimberley Horrocks Cédric Jeanneret Carlos Landázuri Jo-Anne McArthur Nadine Nickner Pablo Oleas Geneviève Renart Hilary Stedwill Sonia St-Michel Danielle Trépanier Octavio Yumbo Sonia Wesche Rebecca Zalatan ACCION AMAZONIA UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA QUITO TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements . 123 Preface by Acción Amazonía . 123 Foreword by Megan Epler Wood . 123 I. Introduction . 123 II. The Indigenous Nationalities of the Oriente . 123 III. The Geographical Context . 123 IV. From Dependency Toward Self Reliance: The Historical Context and Origins of Community Based Ecotourism . 123 V. Characteristics of Community Based Ecotourism . 123 VI. The Role of the Responsible Traveler . 123 VII. Community Based Ecotourism in Sucumbíos . 123 VIII. Community Based Ecotourism in the Middle and Lower Napo Region . 123 IX. Community Based Ecotourism in the Upper Napo Region . 123 X. Community Based Ecotourism in Pastaza . 123 XI. Tips for Travelers . 123 Glossary . 123 Annotated Bibliography . 123 Authors’ Addresses . 123 Appendix 1: Features of CBE Projects . 123 Appendix 2: Maps 3-5 . 123 4 Rolf Wesche and Andy Drumm LIST OF MAPS 1. Indigenous Territories in the Oriente . 123 2. Principal Nature Reserves in the Oriente . 123 3. Indigenous Territories, Nature Reserves and Community Based Ecotourism in Sucumbíos – Napo . 123 4. Indigenous Territories, Nature Reserves and Community Based Ecotourism in the Upper Napo . 123 5. Indigenous Territories, Nature Reserves and Community Based Ecotourism in Pastaza . 123 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book would not have seen the light of the jungle dawn if it had not been for the help of people and institutions too numerous to adequately acknowledge here. We first and foremost are indebted to the 42 indigenous communities who received us with extraordinary hospitality, who taught us about their values and their way of life, and whom we shall not forget. Carlos Landazuri and Octavio Yumbo,Quichua of the Tena area were part of our team and became our friends. The indigenous organizations RICANCIE (Emilio Grefa, Tarquino Tapuy), ATACAPI Tours (José Gualinga, Martin Jovanov), OPIP (César Cerda), Unión Huacamayos (Benito Nantipa), SIONA- TOUR (Anibal Piaguaje, Miriam Ramirez) and ONHAE (Juan Huamoni, Nanto Huamoni), played a vital role in facilitating the team’s access to their member communities. INEFAN (Arturo Ponce, Victor Hugo Vargas, Patricio Taco, Luis Borbor) facilitated access to protected areas. The University of Ottawa (the Faculty of Arts, the Environmental Studies Program, the Student Federation of the Faculty of Arts, the Vice Rector of University Relations and Development) supported the field work of the research team and the preparation of the manuscript. The British Embassy in Quito, Abya Yala, The Ecotourism Society, PROBONA and The Nature Conservancy financed the publication of the English edition. Acción Amazonía provided office facilities, logistical support and communication with indigenous communities and organizations. The Gesellschaft füer technische Zusammenarbeit 6 Rolf Wesche and Andy Drumm (Hans Knoblauch of Proyecto Gran Sumaco) provided logistical and office support and financed the participation of Octavio Yumbo. The Universidad Andina Simon Bolívar in Quito (Raúl Mideros) provided computer facilities and working space at reduced rates. CANODROS provided a free visit to Kapawi Lodge. Pedro Katz and crew at Difoto in Quito worked excep- tionally hard to meet our needs and deadlines. Bruce Robin of the University of Ottawa prepared the maps. Other individuals who furthered the project in a variety of ways include Alejandro Argumendo (Cultural Survival Canada), Megan Epler Wood (TES), Daniel Kouperman (Kapawi-CAN- ODROS), Kurt Kutay (Wildland Adventures), Sofia Darquea, Monica Paez, Pablo Oleas (Acción Amazonía), Richard Resl, Hans Christian Thiel (GTZ-Profors), and Mari Wesche. Finally, a special thanks to the team of Environmental Studies and Geography students of the University of Ottawa who are listed as junior co-authors. Their dedication, creativity, enthu- siasm and resilience made this project a particularly rewarding experience. Rolf Wesche Andy Drumm PREFACE For all that’s been researched, written, spoken and broad- cast about the Amazon rainforest these last ten years, one might be forgiven for thinking that it was all wrapped up, that with the word finally out about its enormous ecological value and cultural diversity, the world had finally come to its senses and had given it the protection it deserves and that the planet needs. Well, to our shame, the reality is quite different: the martyrdom of Chico Mendes and the demise of uncounted numbers of indigenous inhabitants, including entire cultures, have served as mere alarm calls ignored by a world that has difficulty waking up. This vast forest where one hectare contains more tree species than the whole of North America, where a breathtaking knowledge of the medicinal and other utilitarian uses of plants is common to native peoples everywhere, where like humans, the jaguar, the scarlet macaw, the anaconda and freshwater dolphins represent the perfection of their evolutionary process, is being eroded, poisoned and consumed as we speak. The pressures of population growth send landless farmers ever deeper into the forest, and the intolerable pressure of foreign debt payments forces desperate Latin American economies to sack their natural resources in a terrifyingly unsustainable fashion. Those countries which have, in the face of these pressures, managed to truly protect any national parks or respect the integri- ty of any indigenous territories should be saluted for their fore- sight and for the enormous effort this requires. However, even the most cursory examination will reveal that even in these most eco- logically and culturally valuable of areas, destructive and con- 8 Rolf Wesche and Andy Drumm sumptive processes are at work. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, it is undoubtedly the insatiable thirst for oil in the North and for export income in Ecuador which presents the greatest threat to environmental and cultural survival. But there is also an illicit timber industry and uncontrolled and poorly managed tourism to contend with. Fortunately there are counter currents: Recent years have seen the emergence of a stronger indigenous voice through the birth of a number of ethnicity-based and regional representative organizations. Simultaneously, the growth of environmental awareness has been shadowed by growing activism from urban-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Conservationists and indigenous organizations, while shar- ing many common fundamental goals have, in the past, been largely unable to build alliances which last beyond single issue campaigns. The reasons for this have included a degree of mutu- al mistrust between conservationists, who are perceived to put plants and animals before human welfare, and indigenous people, who would appear to seek development without regard for the long term viability of our natural resources. Social, cultural and geographical distance as well as divisive strategies employed by those most threatened by the trend toward sustainable development has tended to contribute to the maintenance of a divide between these two sectors. Acción Amazonía has been created in Ecuador by people with many years of experience in building solid bridges between environmentalists and indigenous communities and organizations. Indeed, our Foundation is a product of both sectors working in unison. We recognize that the natural areas of the Amazon cannot survive without the commitment of their indigenous DEFENDING OUR RAINFOREST 9 inhabitants, just as the immensely rich diversity of Amazon culture cannot survive without pristine forests and rivers and abun- dant wildlife. However, in an era during which just two or three clans continue to roam the Ecuadorian rainforest without contact with the outside world and all remaining indigenous communities are to a greater or lesser degree irreversibly influenced by the expanding capitalist economy, it is untenable to demand their commitment to conservation while denying them access to the means of improving the quality of life at the community level. Acción Amazonía supports practical projects which pro- vide sustainable development alternatives for Ecuadorian Amazon communities while encouraging the rational use of resources at a time when outside pressures promote just the opposite. Without the assurance of the continued existence of the rainforest habitat where the myths, legends and history of entire nations were born, not only will we lose the biological and gene- tic diversity of which it is made, but also the vast richness of knowledge, understanding and culture to which it has given life. This guidebook is a contribution to our environmental and cultural goals of sustainable development. By facilitating a greater flow of interested Amazon visitors to those communities, and only those, who wish to receive them and who manage the oper- ation, income is generated which allows the conservation of resources as well as encouraging respect for cultures which have been abused and denigrated for too long. What is more, the visi- tor will, through the unique experience of seeing the rainforest through the eyes of

Load more