Living Documents DGIS-WWF Tropical Forest Portfolioawsassets.panda.org/downloads/equador2.pdf · 2012-01-03 · DGIS-WWF Tropical Forest Portfolio From heights more wuthering than

DGIS-WWF Tropical Forest Portfolio

From heights more wuthering than onewould expect so close to the Equator, downto steamy lowlands, Sangay National Parkcovers the eastern side of the EcuadorianAndes and the western extreme of theAmazon basin. ‘A wilderness in its truestsense’, the Lonely Planet guidebook says.To keep it that way, Fundación Natura,WWF’s associate organization in Ecuador,is seeking alliances with highland peasantsand lowlanders - settlers and Indians - justoutside the park. But what will happen,some day soon, when a fine new roadcrosses the area?

Sangay’s Challenging ChangesPeople and Conservation in Ecuador's Sangay National Park

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Living Documents

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grass. Population pressure is rising. Indirectly, allthis influences the situation in the park. Burning thegrass in the uplands affects the water economy in thelowlands, while people running out of resourcesoutside the park, tend to seek them inside the park.

That’s why the WWF’s Ecuadorian partner,Fundación Natura, focuses on the people living nearthe park. But it doesn’t say, ‘over there are the limitsof the park and you will be punished if you crossthem’. Nor does it prohibit traditional methods andpractices. Instead, it offers economic alternatives forthem where these methods cause damage.

When one looks superficially at the work ofFundación Natura, one gets that strange feelingagain. Why is an environmental NGO promotingagriculture? However, on visiting Sangay NationalPark and its surroundings, one begins to understand.

Ecuador is a small country in terms of its size andpopulation. But when it comes to biodiversity, it’s agiant. Terry Erwin, a Smithsonian Institutionscientist has counted 3,000 species of beetles in fiveAmazon areas, each one measuring only twelvesquare meters. There are about 25 thousand species

of vascular plants inEcuador, 4,500 species ofbutterflies, 1,500 speciesof birds (twice as many asin Europe), 1,000 speciesof fish, 700 species ofreptiles and amphibiansand 300 mammals. It’s nowonder that people referto Ecuador’s‘megadiversity’. Thenatural treasures are notonly to be found in thefamous GalápagosIslands, but also in theother 23 national parks,covering 20 percent ofthe national territory.

This is the story of oneof them...

At first sight the story of Sangay National Park inEcuador makes strange reading. ‘Don’t worry,

this park is in good shape and there are few threats,’seems to be the central message. The reason issimple. The park is such a wilderness thatpenetrating, colonizing or exploiting it are virtuallyimpossible. The eastern section consists of thicklyvegetated, rugged terrain, with annual rainfall thatcan reach over 4,000 mm in some areas. In the west,breathtaking peaks climb up to 5,400 meters.Regardless of where you are, moving ten kilometersin this park of half a million hectares can cost you aday’s hard labor. Apart from some adventuroushikers, almost nobody tries it. And apart from a fewcolonists who have settled along the new roadbetween Macas and Guamote, nobody lives there.That’s why there are still Andean spectacled bears,jaguars, mountain tapirs, pumas, ocelots, jaguarundisand porcupines to be found in the park. So thequestion arises: why should one protect thisuntouched and unspoiled area in the first place?

The answer lies in the zones on the park’sperimeter. Hunters living there have run out of game.Cattle-breeders are felling the trees and burning the

• 2 •SANGAY’S CHALLENGING CHANGES PEOPLE AND CONSERVATION IN ECUADOR'S SANGAY NATIONAL PARK

LIVING DOCUMENTS DGIS-WWF Tropical Forest Portfolio

Introduction

Why protect an unspoiled area?

Offering economic

alternitives: weaving

woman in Alao

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Guamote. Relatives of the young woman ownedpatches of ground here before the park was foundedin 1976. That is why she has permission to live here.A bit further along the road we see a man cuttingtrees with a chainsaw. That is not permitted.

The proximity of permitted and prohibitedactivities reflects the big contradiction of this nationalpark. On the one hand - that of the Ministry of theEnvironment - the government protects it, on the other- that of the Ministry of Transport - it attacks it, byconstructing a road which cuts the park in two.

As we follow the unpaved road in the direction ofGuamote, avoiding the potholes and the mud andstones that have been deposited here by falling waterand landslides, we pass a camp. It belongs to theEcuadorian Army’s Engineer Corps which isresponsible for the construction of the road. Apartfrom constructing the road, the military are expectedto keep an eye on the park. But sometimes they aretoo busy with their own affairs. ‘A few years ago, wediscovered that two military trucks had left the park

A state that proclaims a national park on theone hand, and encourages the constructionof a road through its heart on the other. An

NGO that pursues conservation but alsoprotects the rights of colonists. It is a

strange world indeed... Read the continuingstory of the Macas-Guamote road.

‘We arrived here only three months ago’, saysthe young female colonist standing in the

doorway of her wooden house. ‘We don’t even havecows or crops.’

Apart from her voice there is nothing to be heardbut the sound of birds, insects and murmuring water.Around us everything is overwhelmingly green. Theroad and the house are the only things to reveal ahuman presence.

We are in the heart of Sangay National Park,standing alongside the new road between Macas and

PEOPLE AND CONSERVATION IN ECUADOR'S SANGAY NATIONAL PARK


• 3 •SANGAY’S CHALLENGING CHANGES

Part of the new road between Macas and Guamote, that cuts through the park

A road connectingcontradictions

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continued. Together with the fact that connectionsbetween the Andean and the Amazon region incentral Ecuador had improved dramatically, one getsthe impression that at that time prestige had becomea major factor behind the project.

At the moment of writing, only one mile of theproposed forty-mile route remained to be completed.But it is not the easiest mile. According to the EngineerCorps, a costly tunnel is needed to bridge the gap. Oncerealized, the tunnel will finally directly connect theAndean town of Guamote and the Amazon town ofMacas. For people living in these communities, it willsave a round trip of hundreds of miles.

The road has more advantages to offer theinhabitants of the region. It is, therefore, warmlywelcomed by almost everyone. Tourists will be ableto enter the park by car. This will increase the needfor guides. Bars have already been erected along theroad, and some people openly dream of openinghotels in the near future.

Others hope they can buy or cultivate a patch ofground along the road. But the park authorities andFundación Natura assure them that this is an illusion.The colonists that have settled, could only do sobecause of the old rights they possess.

UnorthodoxFundación Natura (FN) followed a somewhatunorthodox strategy to prevent newcomers frompenetrating the park. Ecuador’s biggestenvironmental NGO approached the legal colonistsand helped them put their documents in order. Theidea behind this move was that the presence of legalcolonists would act as a buffer against illegal settlers.In exchange for its help, FN made the colonists signan agreement in which they promise to conductthemselves in an environmentally friendly way.

piled with wood’, Óscar Yepes of Fundación Natura(FN) remembers. ‘Soldiers told us that the wood wasgoing to be used to make school benches. But thecommander said he did not know anything about it.We made a formal complaint, because this is a verybad example for the people living near the park. Webelieve that it never happened again.’

Bars and hotelsThe plans for the road date back to the 1950s. Theidea behind it was to connect the Andean region andthe Amazon basin in central Ecuador for the firsttime. Apart from economic reasons, there has alwaysbeen a strong military desire behind it. Thesoutheastern borders of the country have long beendisputed by neighboring Peru. The Ecuadorian armyneeded a shortcut to quickly move arms and vehiclesfrom the barracks at Riobamba to the border.

The construction only began in the 1980s. A lackof funds and the wildness of the terrain slowed theworks considerably. In 1995, the army used a frontierclash with Peru to force a government decree urgingthe rapid finalization of the road. Although Ecuadorand Peru signed a peace treaty in 1998, the work



Colonist house

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sides for the first time, the situation is likely tochange rapidly. However, sometimes politics canprove a conservationist’s best friend. The finalizationof the work was suspended again because of thenational elections of October 2002.▲

This strategy seems to have been successful. Overrecent years, no illegal settlement has been reported.Besides, only eight of the dozens of people with landrights in the road zone of the park have actually madeuse of it up until now. Once the tunnel is finished,making the interior of the park accessible from two




Sangay National Park

Seen from the air,Sangay National Parkresembles nothing somuch as a huge greenslide. From the Andesmountain range in thewest to the Amazonbasin in the east, itplunges from over5,000 metres abovesea-level to just 800.The averagetemperature rangetraces the same curve,from refrigerator togreenhouse values.The wide variety ofnatural conditionsmakes for a stunningdiversity of plant andanimal species. In the whole of eastern Ecuador, 1,662 different orchids have been described ataltitudes between 300 and 3,000 metres, a good number of which are thought to occur in Sangay. Anestimated 500 bird species live in this area, as well as several endangered mammal species,including the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and the Andean spectacled bear (Tremarctusornatus).The Sangay National Park also plays a crucial role in watershed conservation.Theoretically, the parkcould provide most of Ecuador with clean drinking water, while the hydropower plant on the Río Pauteis already one of the country’s main sources of electricity.Politically, the park extends across five provinces: Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Cañar and Azuay in thewest and Morona Santiago in the east.Within the park, there are hardly any human settlements, withthe exception of a small colonisation zone in the south. Just west of the park, population pressure hastraditionally been high.This area is inhabited by Quechua (or Quichua) Indians, most of whom arepeasants. Until the 1960s, population density in the Amazon basin was extremely low. Outside a smallnumber of old colonial towns, the inhabitants belonged to several indigenous ethnic groups, such asthe Shuar. In recent decades, colonisation from the west has brought in mestizos and QuechuaIndians, resulting in a certain degree of modernisation which extends even to Shuar communities.

The black lines indicate the

limits of the park. The area

surrounding it is called the

influence zone. This is the

inhabited zone, where

Fundación Natura and

other organizations work.


The climb to this cold and windy spot had left thereporter stumbling and desperately grasping for air.We are at an altitude of almost 4,000 meters, in themidst of the páramo, the high treeless plain whoseemptiness suggests it is a wasteland of no furtherimportance. But this is far from the truth: the páramoacts as a huge sponge, holding and dividing the waterupon which thousands of people throughout theregion rely.

Today, we are witnessing the installation of a solarpanel next to the choza, the traditional hut, whichshelters the Alao alpaca herd’s shepherd. Everymonth, one or another inhabitant of Alao climbs up tothis remote spot to fulfill his communal duty. Thepanel will provide the volunteers with some much-needed light and radio music in the small hut of woodand straw which contains only a bed. Later, it willalso be used for the electric shaving of the alpacas.

Eighteen months ago, this lama-look-alike -systematically wiped out by the Spanish, whoconsidered it an inferior animal - was reintroduced tothe páramo, thus making one of the greatest

What do you do when people living near anational park depend heavily on cattleraising, which seriously threatens the

environment? You give them an alternative.And what if there is no market for this

alternative in your own country? You goabroad. But how do you go abroad? Well,

just read the story.

‘The orientation is wrong’, says Álvaro Morales,the technician from the Ecuadorian Ministry of

Energy who has come to install the solar panel. Butthe inhabitants of Alao San Antonio, mostly QuichuaIndians, assure him that the wooden constructionthey have built to hold the first solar panel in theirtiny community, is pointing towards the north. Itmakes the reporter, who has his roots in Europe,exclaim: ‘But it should be oriented towards the south,shouldn’t it?’ ‘No sir: although the equator is not faraway, we are south of it, so most of the sunshinecomes from the north.’



One of the greatestcomebacks since Lazarus

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with the fires is that, once the paja has been burned,the páramo no longer acts as a sponge. Instead thewater runs down freely, leading to floods alternatingwith dry periods. This affects agriculture as well ashuman water consumption. A power company thatruns a hydroelectric plant near Alao became aware ofthis devastating effect some years ago, and decided tosign an agreement with FN, including financial andtechnical assistance to Alao.

Alpacas do eat old paja — on this, everybody inthe region agrees. So part of FN’s strategy consists oftrying to convince the Alao residents that their cowsdislike the burning of the paja as much asenvironmentalists. But FN does not want to - and hasno means to - change traditional methods, even ifthey are ecologically harmful. ‘Our strategy is toprovide alternatives, not to forbid’, Óscar Yepesexplains. That’s why he and his colleagues teach thepeople how to burn the paja in a controlled way andoffer better nourishing grass species for their cows,among other things. Still, it cannot be denied thatFN’s main efforts are oriented towards theintroduction of an alternative, the alpaca. And as weall know, alternatives cause resistance and aresources of new problems.

But first, let’s go back to the installation of thesolar panel. While Álvaro and his local assistants arebusy with hammers, pipes and wires, small groups of

comebacks since Lazarus. The driving-force behindthis operation was Fundación Natura (FN),Ecuador’s biggest environmental NGO.

Something completely differentShould environmentalists provide Andeancommunities with livestock? In this case, the answerseems to be affirmative. Alao and nearby Guargualláare heavily dependent on cattle raising. Togethercattle and inhabitants seriously threaten the

vulnerable páramo. The cattle,through overgrazing; theinhabitants, throughburning the dry páramograss, the paja. Thistradition is supported bythe firm belief that cowswill only eat the freshblades of grass that appearafter a fire. But scientist’sdoubt if this is true, saysÓscar Yepes of FundaciónNatura. One study showsthat cows mainly eat theherbs that grow underneaththe paja - and these areburned as well.

But the big problem




More than alpacas

The alpaca project is not the only attempt to lessen the ecological pressure on the region and providethe residents with new sources of income and produce. Some other initiatives include:• Ecotourism. In Guarguallá an association of eleven eco-guides has been formed.They

accompany tourists (mostly young people from Europe and the United States) on hiking tours intoSangay National Park. Some tours last only a few hours, but there is also a seven-day hike to thehighest peak of the park, the Sangay volcano.The guides make use of horses, wooden huts andtents. Although the association has a coordinator in the small town of Licto and works together withtourist offices in the region, the number of tourists has been quite low up till now. In 2002,Guarguallá received about a hundred of them.The guides earn seven dollars a day.This, obviously,is not enough to make a living, so the guides combine their work with agriculture, makinghandicrafts and working in town. Nearby Atillo is very close to building a communal house aimed atreceiving tourists, who can see and buy local handicrafts there, among other things.

• Handicrafts. In Alao, Guarguallá and Atillo, mainly women have begun making handicrafts of paja,the páramo grass.This industry is still at an early stage: designs are simple, skills have not yet beenfully developed and markets have still to be explored.There is a strong relationship between thispossible new source of income and the development of (eco)tourism in the region: once touristsstart to visit the communities, they will get to know local handicrafts, and buy them, if good enough.With the help of Alao’s priest, contacts aimed at export have been established with Spain.

• Hamsters and trout. To diminish the dependence on cattle as a source of protein, the breeding ofhamsters and trout was introduced.The consumption of these animals meets with less prejudicesthan the consumption of alpacas.Trout are being bred in Atillo, hamsters in Alao.The latter formspart of a lending scheme which provided each family with five hamsters.

The installing

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After some unsuccessful experimenting, thewomen decided to have the alpaca wool spun in afactory. This worked out fine, and now they are tryingout new designs, in an effort to build up a range ofproducts which can be sold on the market. But: onwhich market?

Journalists visiting the areaThe beginnings of an answer are to be seen the nextday in the community of Guarguallá, some milesfurther to the south. We arrive there late due to theminibus that desperately tries to keep up with our 4-wheel-drive on the steep, unpaved road that leads tothis remote Andean community. The minibus ispacked with journalists from Guayaquil, Ecuador’sbiggest town which is the home of many newspapersand television stations. Corpei, Ecuador’scorporation for the promotion of exports andinvestments has brought them here. FundaciónNatura invited Corpei to the Sangay region, in anattempt to explore the export possibilities of alpacawool.

The Guayaquil journalists seem under-preparedfor Guarguallá’s height and culture, as demonstratedby a question to a spinning woman: ‘What exactlyare you doing?’When the men of Guarguallá pick outan alpaca from the herd to have it shaved, camerasstart running and microphones are pointed towardsthe animal and its shaver: ‘What is happening now?’

Just like Alao, the community of Guarguallá hosts62 alpacas. A grown up alpaca produces an estimated

men and women slowly climb the path that passes theshepherd’s place. They carry wooden sticks to aneven higher spot. The sticks will form part of a futurefence, explains Óscar Yepes. The fence is meant toseparate the male from the female alpacas,preventing the first ones from mating with relativesand killing baby alpacas. Just like the installation ofthe solar panel, the construction of the fence is aminga, or communal work. FN did not invent thisphenomenon - mingas are a very old indigenoushabit - but effectively makes use of it.

The alpacas are not only introduced for nature’ssake, they should also provide Alao with a new andpromising source of income. In the first place,alpacas produce high quality wool, which can bewoven into shawls, sweaters and other clothes. Buthere emerges a problem that goes a bit deeper thanthe construction of a fence. The women of thecommunity do have some experience with thespinning and weaving of wool (in fact, you see themspinning wool anywhere any time, walking aroundwith a stick and a sack full of wool), but this issheep’s wool. ‘And that is something completelydifferent to develop’, says Maria Paucar ofFundación Natura.

Some of the Alao women, gathered together in acommunal building, demonstrate the problem.‘Look, the alpaca wool is thinner and less regularthan sheep wool. If we spin it and make clothes out ofit, it’s good enough for ourselves, but not for selling,because of the irregularities’, they say.



Minga (communal work) on the páramo

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Being the director of a very beautifulnational park is a super job of course - but itcan also be very frustrating, thanks to a lack

of money and conflicts with stakeholders.People living close to the park once attackedVicente Álvarez. He now considers them his

collaborators. His new enemies areambitious politicians.

H ow many people and how much money do youhave to ensure the future of Sangay National

Park?‘Here in Riobamba we have ten people working forus, there are another five in Macas and two more inCañar. The park contains twelve guardhouses. Theyare frequently undermanned, particularly in thesouth. We don’t dare think about the number ofpeople needed to really cover such an area. More thandouble this crew would be ideal, so then you’retalking of about forty or fifty people. But with ourbudget, that just isn’t possible. These daysgovernment policy is oriented towards downsizingthe number of civil servants. In general, I agree withthis, but not in the case of Sangay National Park.

‘On paper, my annual budget is 70,000 dollars, butin practice, only the wages are paid. Last year, Ireceived between 3,000 and 4,000 dollars apart fromthe wages. Fortunately, since May of last year wehave been getting supplementary aid from theNational Environmental Fund, which is supported byinternational donors. It provides us with some 45,000dollars a year. The government now wants us to do

2,5 kilos of wool per year. Some 300 grammes ofalpaca wool are needed to knit a bufanda, atraditional shawl, which can be sold forapproximately 15 dollars. Thus, the alpaca herd couldprovide Guarguallá with an annual income of about7500 dollars. This amount will rise if the herd isexpanded and used for other purposes, like sellingmeat.

But alpacas, although a native species, are veryunfashionable in Ecuador. At the moment, there arefew of them in the country, almost nobody eats theirmeat and their wool is unknown. Even the inhabitantsof Alao and Guarguallá don’t consider eating them atthis stage. It is one of the reasons Fundación Naturacame up with the idea of exports.

‘But export requires a certain scale. I think youneed at least 400 animals for that’, says GiovanniGinatta, coordinator of the sustainable bio-commerceinitiative of Corpei, while watching the shavingsession. ‘Fortunately, we found an alpaca farm in

Pilisurco with some 300 animals. The owner iswilling to collaborate with Alao and Guarguallá,which would provide the necessary base forexportation.’

But will these tiny Andean communities get thesupport that is needed for such an ambitious project,which will link them with global economy for thefirst time? Hasn’t Ecuador, which is suffering fromone of the severest economic crises in its history,turned its back on its indigenous people and theireconomic problems? ‘On the contrary, the nation isdesperately seeking alternative sources of income’,Ginatta says. ‘The presence of the Guayaquiljournalists today is a clear sign. If there hadn’t beennational elections ahead, there would have been twiceas many. Normally, the link between small-scaletraditional production and the market is a bigproblem here. But the economic crisis stimulates usto tackle it now.’▲




Vicente Álvarez, director of Sangay National Park:

‘The stone they threw atme, became a chance’

View of Sangay National Park

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the local communities resisted us. In Atillo andGuarguallá they burned the grass, they went huntingand let their cattle graze in the park. Now, influencedby their leaders, they are quitting all those bad habits.This is not an easy thing for them to do, you mustremember that their cattle grazed there before thepark was established. But now they are our helpers.In Ozogoche for example, we do not have officialpark guards, but the inhabitants play that role. I thinkthey should be paid for that. I really hope theNational Environmental Fund will do so in the nearfuture.’Is it true the local inhabitants once attacked you?‘In 1989, when I worked here as a technician, I wasinvited to a meeting in Alao. The people stood therewaiting for me and somebody threw a stone. Itdamaged my ear. It was painful, but in the end itturned out to be an opportunity. We used the incidentas a starting point for discussion during trainingsessions with the inhabitants. It even gave birth to ajoke. From that moment on, people said I was anintelligent man, because the words could enter oneear but not leave the other one, since the damaged earis now folded back. Nowadays such things no longerhappen. Around 90 percent of the inhabitants likeme. In Atillo we can put up park signs now. Someyears ago, that was pointless: they would alldisappear.’Do you want to stimulate and facilitate ecotourism?‘Yes, but not everywhere. And it should be doneunder our direction. Some areas, for example Atilloand Ozogoche, are more suited for tourism thanothers. And it must be done in a non-intensive,

more with self-financing. But our only income isfrom the 400 tourists visiting the park annually. Theforeigners pay 10 dollars and the Ecuadorians 2dollars. How can I run a park with that? It’s madness.Sure, tourism is to be developed in the future. But itwill take a long time before we can depend on it.’What do you need apart from more people andmoney?‘Education for our crew. Few of them finished highschool. And we have only two biologists working forus. But the good thing is they have long timeexperience with us and that they come from localcommunities.’What’s the role of non-governmental organizations(NGO’s) in protecting the park?‘It depends on the type of NGO. Some promoteagriculture, which is not necessarily in line withconserving nature. In the past, some of these NGO’shave even claimed land within the park foragricultural use. Ecociencia (a scientifically orientedNGO) and Fundación Natura are the most protectiveof the NGOs. We really need their help. It partlycompensates for the lack of personnel and money.Without them, lots of programs could not have beenexecuted.’And what’s the role of the communities surroundingthe park?‘I always call the inhabitants, especially the ones inthe upper parts, ‘the guardians of conservation’. Theyknow what is good and what is bad for the park. Andalthough they do not always comply with it, theycause less damage than wealthy people. They are aguarantee for the future of the park. In the beginning,



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‘On the other hand, you must not forget that 90percent of the park is virgin, untouched. I consider thefact that NGO’s are talking of the new road all thetime as an attempt to generate publicity. This is athreat as well, because it harms the image of the park.’In what shape will Sangay National Park be in fiftyyears?‘It will be stronger. There will be more tourists, moreconsciousness, more support and fewer enemies. Theeconomic crisis comes together with a rebirth ofenvironmental consciousness in Ecuador. Peoplerealize that the crisis is partly caused by poorenvironmental management. In this sense, the crisisoffers us opportunities. Yes, I really believe the parkwill be better off in fifty years. I am an optimist.’ ▲

limited, conscious and respectful way. Conservationcomes first, tourism next. If tourism harmsconservation, I don’t want tourism.’What’s the biggest threat to the park?‘At this moment it’s the new Guamote-Macas road.Once finished, the road will cut the park in two. Itwill cause accidents between wildlife and cars, it willdivide and isolate animals and it will raise thepressure on the forest. No, I don’t think colonizationwill get a boost by the road. Since the agriculturalreform in Ecuador has been completed, there is nobig need for it. But it will fuel political pressure.Local politicians will promise people access to thenatural resources of the park once the road isfinished.




Clashing with local authorities

Since 1999, there has been a decentralization of powers in Ecuador.This also applies toenvironmental policies and tourism. But instead of giving a boost to the national parks, providing themwith fresh support from involved municipalities who worry about their direct natural environment, itcomplicates their future. ‘The decentralization, if badly executed, is dangerous for us’, warns parkdirector Vicente Álvarez.One of the problems is a lack of environmental consciousness and knowledge within themunicipalities. Many of them, especially the smaller ones, still have no environmental department.They are simply not prepared for their new task.Another problem is that ambitious politicians now feel free to realize - or at least propagate -prestigious infrastructure projects.The mayors of Chambo and Huamboya, for example, openlyadvocate the construction of another road cutting through Sangay National Park, connecting theirvillages west and east of the park.The governor of the province of Chimborazo, Alfonso Burbano,backs them.‘Over my dead body’, is theunambiguous reaction of VicenteÁlvarez.He admits that some mayors have goodintentions. ‘But after their four year term, anew and destructive mayor comes in. Andbelieve me, you can destroy a lot of thingsin four years time!’The municipalitieshave recently discovered tourism as anew source of income. Some of them arenow making plans to upgrade facilitiesand invest in it. Ivan Ríos, head of theenvironmental department of theprovincial capital of Riobamba, says hewould like to establish a regional jointventure for this purpose. In this jointventure, the government, municipalitiesand NGO’s should work together. ButVicente Álvarez is cautious about thisinitiative: ‘I only agree with it if it is definedby clear rules, if our influence isguaranteed and if the joint venture isadequately managed.’

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The Shuar, formerly known as Jivaros, achievednotoriety through the practice of tsantsa. This canbest be described as the fine art of head shrinking. Itcomprises three phases. First you decapitate one ofthe leaders of the defeated enemy. Then you carefullyremove the skull, stuff the remains with clay andcautiously dry it. Finally, you put the result, aterrifyingly realistic looking shrunken head, on astick and carry it with you during the next crusade.

Those days are now over. During the agrarianreform of the 1960s, the government needed land forpoor peasants. It regarded Amazonia as an emptyregion in need of development. And development, inthe government’s view, meant practicing agricultureand raising cattle. Colonists could earn land rights byreplacing the forest with fields and meadows. Thispolicy lead to mass deforestation. And in many cases,the colonists felled the trees only to obtain a title, notfor productive reasons. Much of the wood simplyrotted away on the land.

Vast parts of the tropical forest and its animals,fruits and herbs disappeared, and colonists from otherparts of the country invaded large areas that weretraditionally used by the Shuar. All at once, theyfound themselves in a totally different environment.Hunting and gathering was no longer possible, or onlyon a much smaller scale. So, twenty to thirty yearsago, the hunters decided to settle down. They formedtheir own communities, close to those of the colonists,and turned to agriculture and cattle-raising as well.

Now, however, they have serious problems makinga living out of it. First, the price of cattle has droppeddramatically. Second, there is not enough land tokeep up with their ever-increasing population .

In another Shuar community, called Kunkints, wevisit another communal corral, inhabited by anotherbig rodent, the guanta (Agouti paca).

Turning hunters into farmers isn’t theeasiest job. Getting them to domesticate

game is even more difficult. But getting themto breed and nurture the animals they once

hunted seems positively unnatural.Nevertheless, to the east of Sangay National

Park, it’s happening.

The capybara comes closer, waits awhile and thensniffs at the reporter. ‘Does he like Dutchmen?’

the reporter asks, nervously confronting a speciesmore than ten times larger than the rodents he’s usedto. The answer comes quickly: ‘He’s never met one.’The capybara, measuring about eighty centimeters, isthe biggest rodent on earth.

In many ways the situation here in the communalcorral of the tiny community of Kunkup which ishome to nine Shuar families, is quite unnatural. In thepast, Shuar Indians hunted capybaras (Hydrochoerushydrochaeris) close to extinction. They were killedfor their flesh and skin, but also because theytrampled or ate the crops. Now there is a non-aggression pact between the two. The Shuar nurtureand feed their former prey as if they were pets, inexchange the capybara provide them with a newsource of income.

Maybe the domestication in itself isn’t the mostexceptional part of the story. After all, we’ve seen thatbefore. The cow, for example, was once a wildanimal.

What’s really astonishing is the speed of theprocess. Here, east of Sangay National Park, at aheight of about thousand meters, an indigenouscommunity is trying to achieve in a couple of years achange which, in comparable cases, took thousandsof years - or failed. Domesticating game, to put itmildly, isn’t the easiest task in the world.

Easter dishTo better understand the events in Kunkup, oneshould first take a closer look at the dramatic changesin the life of the Shuar themselves. Until about fortyyears ago, they were nomads, hunting and gatheringin the jungle of eastern Ecuador. They were not theonly hunter-gatherers in the region. Since theymoved to another place every time their huntinggrounds were exhausted, frequently entering otherpeople’s territory in the process, conflict was rife inthe region. Nor were the Shuar averse to conflict, infact, they lived in a semi-permanent state of war.




The hunters put down roots

Feeding of a capybara

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died. The guantas proved to be extremely sensitive tosunlight and are very particular in the choice of theirfood. ‘In fact, the guanta project is a failure,’ declaresJimmy Marchán, coordinator of the Macas office ofFundación Natura, standing next to the guanta corral.

A third rodent species, the guatusa or indian rabbit(Dasyprocta punctata), was introduced in anotherShuar community. This one adapts itself better thanthe guanta, but worse than the capybara. The idea ofFundación Natura is to stop the breeding of guantasand guatusas in due time and have them replaced bycapybaras. They should not wait too long: theunlucky Shuar communities who are experimentingwith guantas and guatusas are complaining louderand louder every day. That is where FundaciónNatura and some eye-catching alternatives came in.Fortunately, there are other alternatives, as the peopleof Fundación Natura demonstrate during a walking

Again, this animal was formerly hunted and is nowbred by the Shuar. But the similarities end here. Thecapybara seems to like its new domesticated state. Inthree years, twelve babies were born, so at themoment the community possesses nineteencapybaras. ‘In a few years time, we hope to have aherd of about sixty or seventy,’ says Pedro Tiwi, oneof the capybara keepers of Kunkup. At that stage, thecommunity could start to consume and sell theanimals. Capybara flesh is a popular Easter dish inArgentina and Brazil, so the Shuar are alreadydreaming of export earnings. An adult capybaraweighs 145 pounds, and a pound of capybara flesh isworth more than a dollar.

An ecologically sound community gardenBut in nearby Kunkints, the dream is turning sour. Intwo years time, the nine guantas of the communityhave produced only five babies, of which three have



Shuar girl

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After using a piece of land, the people let it lie fallowfor ten years. As populations increased , this periodwas reduced to five years, causing an acceleration ofthe exhaustion process. At the moment, there is noteven enough land to let it lie fallow for five years.

‘How many hectares of land do you have?’ JimmyMarchán unexpectedly asks Raúl, one of theinhabitants of Kunkints that accompanies us. ‘Onlythree,’ he answers. ‘And your father?’ Raúl grins: ‘Hehad seventy.’

‘You see? That’s the problem’, Marchán adds witha serious expression. ‘Each generation has less landto cultivate. The AFMs help to solve that problem.’Fundación Natura has calculated that three AFMscan meet the nutritional needs of one family. TenAFMs are the maximum one family could cultivateon its own. So for the moment, Raúl doesn’t need toworry.

Cultural changesBut there are other problems that remain unsolved.One of them is the fact that the Shuar have alwayslived in isolation with a tradition of subsistence.‘They were never linked to the market,’ JimmyMarchán explains. ‘So to whom should they sell theirproducts? The market of Macas would be flooded ifevery Shuar family were to go selling there. Besides,their crops grow abundantly in almost everybody’sgarden. They should at least add value to them, byprocessing them. In Wapú they have started to do soby producing yucca and potato flour, but this is stillin its infancy.’

The Shuar’s rapid transformation from hunters tofarmers has also brought about radical social change.Men and women have been forced to adapt to newroles. For example, because they don’t fight and huntanymore, the men have lost status. According toMarchán, they try to compensate for this byproducing more children. Although another theorysays the Shuar deliberately plan to have morechildren, because agriculture requires more hands.

Taking this into account, one could accuseFundación Natura of offering solutions thataggravate the problem of population growth.‘Therefore, some people say we should never haveintroduced our alternatives,’ Marchán says. ‘But thatmeans condemning the Shuar to marginalization.Then their children will end up in the gutter of the bigcities, as already happens in jungle towns like Cocaand Lago Agrio. Of course sometimes I’m afraid weare going to fail. The chance that this will happen iseven bigger than the chance of success. But I thinkwe should take the risk.’▲

tour through the secondary forest surroundingKunkints. A muddy path leads us to a fielddistinguished by its size and vegetation. ‘It measures28 by 28 meters,’ says Roberth Samaniego ofFundación Natura’s Macas office, ‘and it containsseven levels.’The levels don’t have to do with groundaltitude but with the size of the plants.

‘The first level,’ Samaniego explains, pointingtowards the field, ‘consists of small plants likepeanuts and beans. On the second there is yucca, onthe third you see bigger plants like bananas, on thefourth there are citrus trees and coffee, the fifthcontains small palms, the sixth has trees like laureland the seventh level is reserved for bigger trees likecinnamon.’

This system, called agro-forestry modules(AFMs), combines the virtues of the old indigenoustraditions with modern agronomic know-how,turning gardens into well-functioning ecologicalcommunities. Most of the crops aren’t new to theregion, but the almost mathematical way of growingthem is. The AFMs descend from the Kayapó Indiansin Brazil and are especially directed towardsimproving deficient tropical soils. The underlyingidea is that the plants support each other. Someprovide shade and humus, others repel parasites thatthreaten nearby plants. Chickens and pigs are used ascleaning machines, eating harmful insects. ‘Togetherthis creates an ecological balance in which nochemicals are needed,’ says Samaniego. The price isalso nice: creating one AFM only costs about thirtydollars.

Rotation systemTouring the AFM’s of Kunkints, the idea seemspromising. ‘This is a two year old AFM,’ Samaniegoexplains when we enter a lush field. ‘Here we foundout that the cinnamon tree grows so rapidly that it fitsbetter in the seventh than in the fifth level. And wecut back on the number of cocoa plants because theyproved to be too vulnerable to plagues.’

The inhabitants were enthusiastic from thebeginning. For them, the AFMs bring a lot ofadvantages. The modules need relatively littlemaintenance, yield in the short- as well as themedium- and the long term and are very flexible:many different crops can be sown on almost everylevel, up to a total of about thirty. This enables theowners to adapt them to their own needs and thevarying demands of the market.

But what is more important, the AFMs do notexhaust the soil, like the traditional agriculturalrotation system of the Shuar. In the past, exhaustionwas no problem, because there was plenty of land.







Name: Raúl Quillay (30)Children: 1Born and living in: Alao San AntonioOccupation: masonry, agriculture (potatoes), two cows

Are you pleased about the creation of Sangay National Park?‘Yes. It brings advantages, like its plants. But I have only been there once, because I amnot a tourist guide.’How do you judge the activities of Fundación Natura?‘They have not done anything for me in particular, but they do support the Alao TorreAssociaton, and I am a member of it.The most beneficial thing up till now has been thealpaca project.We expect a lot of it. A disadvantage is that they do not allow us to burnthe grass on the páramo anymore.’Are you in favor of the new road between Macas and Guamote, that cuts through the park?‘Yes, because it will allow us to visit more places. And I hope I will be able to cultivate a

piece of land along the road.’Do you expect to benefit from ecotourism?‘Yes. It might be possible for me to work as a guide.Furthermore, the tourists that pass by, will buy goods fromus. I am in favor of all kinds of tourism, because we will notlet tourists destroy anything in the park.’What is your greatest wish?‘A new communal building, in which we can store weaving-looms and sell handicrafts.’

Name: Rosa Tapia (50)Children: 6Born and living in: GuargualláOccupation: housewife, handicrafts

Are you pleased aboutthe creation of SangayNational Park?‘Yes, because it bringsus tourists from abroad.’How do you judge theactivities of FundaciónNatura?‘Beneficial.Withoutthem we would not havemoved forward with theweaving and thehandicrafts. But we stillhave problems sellingthe things we make.’Are you in favor of thenew road between

Macas and Guamote, that cuts through the park?‘Yes, it enables us to go to Macas. No, I don’t know if there isa market in Macas. But it is simply good that there is a roadto the east now.’Do you expect to benefit from ecotourism?‘I hope so, because my son works as a guide.Tourismalready brings us profits. So far the alpacas have notbrought us any profit.’What is your greatest wish?‘A small communal building with a fireplace, to receivetourists.We now receive them in a hut with an open fire, thatis no good.’

Name: SantiagoAnguasha (40)Children: 5Born in Kuri, living inKunkintsOccupation: agriculture(runs 7 agro-forestrymodules) and pigs

Are you pleased aboutthe creation of SangayNational Park?‘It has given us natureand plants, that is anadvantage. But on theother hand, we can’t justgo in there.’How do you judge the activities of Fundación Natura?‘For me they have done a lot.They helped me putting up theagro-forestry modules and a fish nursery. At this moment, it is

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Name: Delia Soldado (58)Children: 7

Born and living in: AtilloOccupation: housewife, handicrafts

Are you pleased about the creation of Sangay National Park?‘First we disagreed a bit with the park. Nobody asked us anything, nobody explained tous why it was established.We were afraid they were going to take our land from us. Butslowly we recognized we were mistaken. At this stage I would say: it does not bring usmany advantages, but it also brings few disadvantages.’How do you judge the activities of Fundación Natura?‘With that, it was the same as with the park.They came with maps and plans and in thebeginning we did not know what to think of it. Now we have experienced someadvantages, like the establishing of nurseries. Before that, nobody ever gave us oneplant.’Are you in favor of the new road between Macas and Guamote, that cuts through the park?‘It brings advantages and disadvantages. In the past, we had to carry everythingourselves or transport it on horseback. In this sense, the road is arelief. But it also enables other people to infiltrate in the park andon our land and to let them spoil the environment.’Do you expect to benefit from ecotourism?‘We still have very few things to offer to the tourists. First we need abetter infrastructure and a building toreceive them. A hotel? That would bemagnificent!’What is your greatest wish?‘Money, to build a hotel, for example.And to establish a cheese factory,which is our great dream.’

all slowing down a bit, but we haveto carry on with it.’Are you in favor of the new roadbetween Macas and Guamote, thatcuts through the park?‘Yes, it makes it easier fortechnicians to come here. And itenables us to transport our productsto other places.’Do you expect to benefit fromecotourism?‘It is very important.Tourists provideus with lots of experience andknowledge. And with money, ofcourse.We can use that foreducation and health services.’What is your greatest wish?‘To increase our earnings.The firstthing we should do with it is to buy afirst aid kit for our school.’

Name: Cristóbal Antun (38)Children: 12

Born and living in: KunkupOccupation: agriculture (yucca, potatoes,

bananas), cows and horses

Are you pleased about the creation of SangayNational Park?‘Yes, we protect it and let other people knowhow important it is. It makes the water and thelife in this region more pure. So we decidednot to exploit it and not to cut down the trees.No, it does not bring any disadvantages to us.’How do you judge the activities of FundaciónNatura?‘I like them.We received lots of support andtraining from them.We don’t want to do withoutthem anymore.Yes, their projects have meantquite a change for us.But we could not go onwasting resources like our parents did.Although, at the same time, we can’t totallyabandon their lifestyle.That’s why the capybaranursery suits us. It belongs to us, living withanimals.’Are you in favor of the new road between Macas and Guamote, that cuts throughthe park?‘It is a form of exploitation.They destroyed green, unspoiled woods with theirmachines. In this sense, it harms us. But it is an advantage that we can go to otherprovinces now.’Do you expect to benefit from ecotourism?‘Yes, it is an economic necessity for us, it benefits our children and our healthcare.Without tourism, we would be forced to cut down trees. But we should betrained for it. No, I am not afraid the tourists will destroy the woods.We are there toprevent them doing that.’What is your greatest wish?‘Expanding the capybara nursery and growing more food for the capybaras.’

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Goals Obstacles Results

Introduction of alpacas. Technical problems(spinning). Market still to beexplored (wool).Lack of entrepreneurial spiritwithin the communities.

Communities welcomed the project.Work of the men (breeding alpacas)linked to that of the women(spinning and weaving).

Domestication of game.

Establishing agro-forestalmodules.

Difficulties in finding animals.Lack of knowledge ofbreeding process. Unnaturalsituation.

Lack of seed, initial plagues,no outlet for crops.

Capybaras successful, guantas not,guatusas in-between.

Enthusiasm and many voluntaryparticipants.

Land-use planning. Different interests andresistance in somecommunities.

Higher conscience of harmfulactivities, like burning.

Limiting impact of new roadMacas - Guamote.

Communities all in favor ofthe construction of the road.

Agreement with families living alongthe road.

Strengthening position ofwomen.

Lack of tradition (lowlands),language problems (olderwomen).

Founding of various women’sassociations in the highlands.

Improving parkmanagement.

Land quarrels, lack of money,resistance in somecommunities.

Dramatic change of attitude withinhostile communities.

Cooperation between allthe parties involved.

Little knowledge of the parkand its importance.

Agreement with power enterpriseand university.

Generating political interestfor the park.

Economic crisis, elections. Higher conscience, especially of theneed for popular participation.

Overview of the main goals, obstacles and results of the Sangay project

About Fundación Natura

Fundación Natura (FN) acts as the WWF’s partner in the Sangay National Park project. It is Ecuador’slargest environmental NGO. Since 1992, when the United Nations conference on environment anddevelopment (Unced) was held in Rio de Janeiro, it has tried to reconcile social and environmentalgoals. In practice, most of FN’s efforts are directed towards indigenous organizations. Its agronomistshelp to develop sustainable agricultural methods, its social promoters assist in establishing women’sassociations and communal committees. FN also tries to cooperate with ministries, localgovernments, other NGO’s, universities etc. Fundación Natura is based in Quito and runs branchoffices in Riobamba, Macas and Puyo.

About the Sangay project

The Sangay National Park project started in 1996. Itsaim is to conserve the rich biodiversity of the park, tointroduce sustainable production methods in the areasurrounding the park and to ensure the population’sparticipation in the management of the area. It formspart of the WWF Tropical Forest Portfolio and isfinanced by the Dutch government (DGIS).





capybaras, and the establishing of agro-forestrymodules.

What makes it easier for Fundación Natura is thattheir alternatives are rooted in the region. Thecapybara and the alpaca are native species. The agro-forestry modules come from a region with lots ofsimilarities in neighboring Brazil.

Having said that, it remains fascinating that menwho were hunting capybaras ten years ago, nownurture and feed them. It fills one with admiration forthe adaptability of these people - and for the cogencyof Fundación Natura. Nobody knows where it willend, but already this is surely a major achievement.

Still, some contradictions remain. All communitiessurrounding Sangay National Park favor theconstruction of the new road between Macas andGuamote. The economic benefits they expect from it,weigh heavier for them than the harm the road doesto the park. In this regard, Fundación Natura and thecommunities do not agree. For this reason,Fundación Natura decided not to oppose the road,only to help diminish its negative impact. Right theyare. Sustainable development is not only about plantsand animals, it’s also about people. And you can’twin every battle. ▲

Do we have the right to change the living patternof indigenous people, gradually developed

during centuries, in a short period of time? It’s awonderful question for a Socratic debate on a coldwinters eve. Without any doubt, the participantswon’t come to any agreement - but they will return totheir homes satisfied, because the theme inspiredthem to bring up unconventional lines of argument.

But when the house is on fire, you don’t start aSocratic debate. You decide to do something. That’sexactly what Fundación Natura did in and aroundSangay National Park in Ecuador. We still don’tknow if it is ethical, in a higher sense, that they havehelped to transform Shuar Indians from hunter-gatherers into capybara-breeders or farmers. Wedon’t even know if it will work on an economic level.

But what we do see is that contradictions andhostilities have made way for trust andunderstanding. The communities surrounding thepark at first opposed its foundation and distrustedanyone entering their community, regardless of theirintentions. Gradually, they entered into a dialoguewith Fundación Natura and other stakeholders, likethe park authorities. Now they have not onlyaccepted, but also internalized the alternativesoffered to them, like the breeding of alpacas and

Conclusion

Fascinating changes

Sunset over Sangay National Park

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Acknowledgements

All texts written by Menno Bosma and Gaston Dorren of Bureau M&O - Environment & Development Productions

© WWF November 2003

Published by the DGIS-WWF Tropical Forest Portfolio based at WWF International.For further copies contact Astrid Bjorvik, Finance/Communications Co-ordinator,DGIS-WWF Tropical Forest Portfolio WWF International, Avenue de Mont Blanc 27, 1196 Gland, SwitzerlandTel: +41 22 364 90 16, Fax +41 22 364 06 40, E-mail: [email protected]

Cover picture:WWF-Canon/Kevin Schafer Layout and design: MMS Grafisch Werk, Amsterdam,The Netherlands Production: Bureau M&O, Amsterdam,The Netherlands

This publication receives outside financing. Citation is encouraged. Shorts excerpts may betranslated and/or reproduced without prior permission, on the condition that the source isindicated. For translation and/or reproduction in whole,WWF International should be notified inadvance. Responsibility for the contents and for the opinions expressed rest solely with theauthor; this publication does not constitute an endorsement by WWF International or thefinancier.The material and the geograpical designations in this magazine do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WWF concerning the legal status of anycountry, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
