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ECUADOR´S OIL DEMONS. What Others Had to Say
Added by Guy Edwards on May 19, 2010
Ecuador’s oil legacy is indeed a tragic one. With modest benefits oozing down to the neediest yet with few seemingly lucrative alternatives, Ecuador faces some incredibly tough choices. However, with the growth of tourism and in particular ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon, sustainable alternatives are in the ascendancy and warrant far greater attention.
The Huaorani Ecolodge is one such example. The Huaorani who make up the majority of the employees are not lying lazily on their hammocks but in fact contributing to the national economy by providing incredibly exciting and unique tourist adventures. The financial gains from receiving tourists in turn helps protect their forest homeland and their cultural integrity.
One successful project alone is no substitute for oil but the potential of ecotourism more broadly and its ability to open up new sustainable opportunities could be.
WTM World Responsible Tourism Day is now three years old and Tropic Journeys in Nature together with the UNWTO, are making a difference.
With the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit failing to produce a legally binding agreement the environmental focus in 2010 will be firmly on the travel and tourism industry – which has the fastest growing carbon dioxide emissions of any sector. There is no doubt that what we do today will have a strong influence on the kind of international travel and tourism industry we have in the future. We are in this together – and everyone must play their part.
Tropic is very delighted to support and continue our commitment to responsible tourism.
Richard Hammond
The Guardian, Saturday 20 February 2010
"Tropic's trips are the genuine article. The Ecuadorian operator has pioneered small-scale, sensitively run trips to meet remote nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in the Amazon
On the 10th December, TROPIC Journeys in Nature was invited by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Tourism to participate in a meeting to discuss the management strategy and specific regulations within the Yasuni National Park and the Intangible Zone for the Tangaere and Taromenane peoples.
Diana Roblez, representing Tropic, supports the initiative of the Precautionary Measures Plan for isolated people. Tropic and the foundation, Conservation In Action, are implementing projects for Huaorani communities living along the River Shiripuno located in the buffer zone of the Yasuni National Park.
For further information, you can reach Diana at foninclusion@tropiceco.com.
LATA-Auszeichnung für drei Senderos-Partner
ags/ Die Latin American Travel Association (LATA) hat auf dem World Travel Market (WTM) in London im November drei Partner der Marketing-Allianz Senderos ausgezeichnet.
Das Hotel Awasi (www.awasi.cl) in San Pedro, Chilenische Atacama-Wüste, gewann zum zweiten Mal in Folge den Preis für das beste Boutique Hotel. Die Hotelgruppe Casa Andina in Peru (www.casa-andina.com) wurde zur besten Hotelgruppe Lateinamerikas gekürt. Als bestes „Nachhaltiges Tourismus-Projekt“ wurde zum wiederholten Male die Huaorani Lodge (www.huaorani.com) im Ecuadorianischen Amazonasbecken ausgewählt.
LATA, der britische Verband von Spezialveranstaltern für Lateinamerika mit Sitz in London, verleiht alljährlich seine im Tourismus hoch anerkannten Preise auf der LATA-WTM Party. LATA im Internet unter www.lata.org.
Nowadays the community tourism is becoming a new alternative to have a real experience of life. All around Ecuador there is established a network of community tourism to offer travellers the option of living more intimately together with the indigenous communities of each region and learn deeply about their lifestyle.
Last November 26, Tropic Journeys in Nature explored the Chimborazo province, in the central highlands of Ecuador.
The visit to the Lama’s cultural museum; trekking in the Lama trail; experience their authentic weaving process and the amazing practice of the traditional “hieleros del Chimborazo” (how the people of the community get ice from the volcano manually to sell it in their markets) are some of the uncountable options that this region and this very committed and cosy people is encouraging.
After this journey we realized the commitment and willingness to strive and push their project and above all could experience the experience of their programs if they promise to be very valid for an international promotion.
It is important our participation and we reinforce our support to this kind of projects; due to we strongly believe this type of tourism supports the survival of these communities and their culture. Each visit not only provides a real experience of life, but it will encourage to the evolution and maintenance of communities and their traditions.
http://www.greennatgeo.co.uk/dec09/
MEET THE HUAORANI, ECUADOR
Dawn is a magical time in the rain forest. It’s in that fragile period of peace before the forest reawakens when you set off through the morning mist in a dugout canoe along the Shiripuno River to meet the Huaorani, a tribe of native Amerindians... (PG. 106)
I was thrilled to be invited to the deepest headwaters of the Ecuadorian Amazon, Read more...
Here are the finalists of The Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009, organised by responsibletravel.com: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hubs/greentravel/6544048/The-winners-of-the-Virgin-Holidays-Responsible-Tourism-Awards-2009.html
Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009
Tropic Journeys in Nature has been shortlisted in The Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009, organised by responsibletravel.com.
Launched in 2004, the Awards aim to celebrate those individuals, companies and organisations in the travel industry that are making a significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and are providing a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation.
The shortlist was selected by a panel of 13 prolific judges at a recent judging day held at The Royal Geographical Society, London. Dr. Harold Goodwin, Chair of the Judges and Professor of Responsible Tourism Management at Leeds Metropolitan University said:
"Working our way through this year's long lists, we were impressed by the willingness of so many organisations to take responsibility and to do what they can to help make better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit. This year over 140 submitted detailed responses to our questionnaire and we received hundreds of references.
“Despite the economic difficulties being faced by the travel and tourism industry, responsible tourism continues to move ahead and I’m continu ally impressed as more is achieved by more people. As judges we are all very aware of the great work that is being done by so many and our decisions are often very difficult and sometimes long debated. I am pleased to say that we have worthy winners in all categories – for more detail you’ll need to wait on the announcements on Wednesday 11th November."
For 15 years, TROPIC Journeys in Nature has pioneered the concept of responsible ecotourism in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. TROPIC provides high quality responsible travel experiences in Ecuador’s most spectacular natural areas and national parks in the company of its native peoples. The company has worked with successive national government to influence policy such that sustainability is now a manifest priority for Ecuador’s government. While pioneering experiences with indigenous people in Ecuador’s Amazon headwaters significant benefits have been mobilized for local people including co-ownership of two ecolodges (see www.huaorani.com), and recently Tropic working with the Huaorani people and the charity it set up – Conservation in Action, has created a 100,000 acre reserve in the heart of their territory.
“We are extremely honoured to be shortlisted for this prestigious award” said Tropic President, Andy Drumm: “This is a wonderful recognition that motivates us even more to continue to build the model of responsible tourism we have developed.”
Founded by responsibletravel.com the Awards are run in association with headline sponsor, Virgin Holidays and partners World Travel Market, The Daily Telegraph and Geographical Magazine.
Amanda Wills, managing director, Virgin Holidays, headline sponsor of the Awards said:
“In Virgin Holidays’ third year as headline sponsor of this important event, I remain as excited by this year’s innovators in the responsible travel arena as I did when we first teamed up with responsibletravel.com in 2007. In this moveable landscape, consistency, focus and commitment to sustainable solutions are vital. At some point the recession will be behind us, but sustainable travel solutions are not a passing challenge.”
The Awards presentation will be held as part of World Responsible Tourism Day at the World Travel Market in London, on Wednesday 11 November where the winners in all 13 categories will be announced. For more information and to register for WTM, visit http://www.wtmwrtd.com/
For the full shortlist, see www.responsibletourismawards.com/shortlist09
For more information about the judges and the judging process see: www.responsibletourismawards.com/about
To contact Tropic’s President Andy Drumm: andy@tropiceco.com or by phone during the World Travel Market: (+44) (0)7971 982286
- Ends -
Join ACCOR, Tropic Journeys in Nature, Royal Caribbean Cruises and TUI Travel in a discussion on the biodiversity related risks and opportunities for the accommodation sector.
Join us in this session, and discuss about our experience.
Wednesday 11 November 2009
14:00 - 15:00 North Gallery
Rooms 4/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cYGSd8kKo4
Huao Journal: Jaguars in the spotlight
With a number of new and exciting projects underway within the territory of the Ecotourism Association of Quehueri’ono and the Huaorani Ecolodge, our new resident manager, Guy Edwards, will be writing a monthly blog to share with you all the latest news:
Tracking down jaguars in the Ecuadorian Amazon is no picnic, while taking a photo is close to impossible. But with the help of Santiago Espinosa and his team, Huaorani Ecolodge is now in with a fighting chance.
Santiago, a PhD candidate from the University of Florida, Gainesville and WWF and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) fellow respectively, is carrying out the first large-scale jaguar census in Ecuador.
Huaorani EcoLodge is one of four study sites under investigation. The others include additional locations in the Huaorani Territory and the Yasuni National Park. Together they form one of the last remaining jaguar strongholds in the country and have considerable potential for their conservation.
Jaguars are the largest cat in the Americas and the third largest in the world. At the top of the food chain and weighing up to 130 Kg, jaguars are fearless creatures requiring extensive areas –between 10 and 300 km2- to hunt their prey including deer, peccaries and tapirs. During the drier summer months, sightings of jaguars are more common as the cats come to the larger rivers to find their prey and to bathe.
Jaguars are integral to Huaorani culture and are revered not only because they are the most powerful creatures in the forest, but also because the Huaorani believe their warriors and shaman transform into jaguars when they die.
The jaguar census relies on the use of camera traps. Trails are cut, which incidentally jaguars are known to be fond of using, and the cameras are then installed in 26 different locations, which take photos as the larger animals move past. The cameras are operated for 90 days and are regularly checked on by Espinosa and his team of Huaorani assistants to ensure they are running smoothly. The photos are then analyzed to calculate how many individual jaguars live in the designated area.
The participation of Huaorani field assistants is also opening up new possibilities. Daniel Alvarado and Arturo Enomenga, who have worked with Espinosa throughout this study, commented that projects of this type help to consolidate the connections between ecotourism, protecting the Huaorani territory and culture and biodiversity.
The training opportunities to manage the cameras and monitor the wildlife is a great first step towards the Huaorani Ecolodge obtaining its own camera traps and joining a select group of locations in Ecuador with a permanent installation of cameras and a regular stream of wildlife photos.
The study will be wrapped up in November when Santiago will present the photos and his findings to the local communities.
Preliminary data from the entire study suggests that fewer jaguars and their prey frequent areas subjected to hunting where as the opposite is true where little hunting takes place.
Encouragingly, there have been a number of recent sightings of jaguars within the conservation area where the Ecolodge is located and hearing them at night is common. Trails have also revealed both large and small jaguar footprints.
The photos being sent off to the developers will hopefully corroborate this evidence and provide useful feedback on how effectively the new conservation area, which prohibits hunting, is facilitating the rehabilitation of various species.
The Huaorani knowledge of their forests and its biodiversity makes them formidable hunters. But by using this expertise in tandem with the new conservation area and state of the arc wildlife monitoring tools such as the cameras traps, there is great potential to develop an effective Huaorani conservation programme to complement the ecotourism operation. Let’s hope the photos come out in spots.
We are very proud to announce that our company has been specially recommended in Rough Guides’ new book – Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - published in August 2009.
Rough Guides is one of the most successful and respected travel brands in the world, with over 300 travel guides in print. We have a reputation for good writing, accuracy and honesty.
Only a few companies qualify for a special recommendation of this kind, which highlights our company as one of our authors’ favourites.
Listen to Richard Hammond´s experience with the Huaorani and how he was taken to an amazing waterfall to be cured when he was sick with a fever at Excess Baggage; a travel magazine, featuring travellers' tales, experiences and anecdote; at Radio 4 (BBC).
Richard Hammond is the Guardian's eco travel correspondent and the founder of online green travel forum greentraveller.co.uk. Richard is also co-author of Clean Breaks which looks at new and different ways to explore to world.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00m0gdf
On the 20th November Guy Edwards spoke about his visit to a community of the Huaorani people of Ecuador at the Anglo-Ecuadorian Society in Canning House, London. This post provides a brief summary.
Spread out around a small airstrip in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Huaorani community of Quehueri’Ono is a leading light in a country where eco-tourism destinations are some of the world’s best. Having won three awards, the Huaorani eco-tourism operation, in partnership with the operator Tropic, is proving an excellent way to protect their land and culture while providing a source of income.
This story is even more successful given the predicament that the Huaorani finds themselves in. Vulnerable, heavily outgunned and with few if any rights to the oil beneath their land, they are often forced to deal with the invasion of progress epitomised by the dirty and toxic politics of the oil industry.
Back of the envelope calculations suggest that eco-tourism is worth $200 million per year to Ecuador’s economy. Although oil sales dwarf this figure, the tribe are challenging the oil industry’s development credibility. By offering sustainable alternatives, they are harnessing new green markets which represent essential building block for the area’s future.
Eco-tourism is a crucial means in which the Huaorani can connect with the outside world at a pace they can control. Gaining experience in marketing and as guides is invaluable training and is laying the foundations for the tribe to be in full control of the eco-tourism operation within a decade or so.
The eco-tourism association, representing five Huaorani communities, is also working on a participatory mapping project in the North-West of their territory that will provide cutting edge data about their land. If the map is accepted by the political organization representing the tribe, an agreement could be reached to pay the Huaorani for their role in conserving the forest in their territory. This mapping project is part of a broader forestry initiative launched in September this year by the Ecuadorian government called Plan Socio Bosque. A voluntary scheme aimed at rewarding farmers and indigenous communities for protecting their forest, successful participants could be paid up to 30 dollars per hectare per year.
This pioneering forestry initiative reflects the growing awareness that tackling deforestation is a key part of dealing with climate change. Emerging strategies seeking to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) are seen as not only good for the climate and conserving biodiversity, but as an important source of finance for developing countries with populations dependent on forests for their livelihoods. The basic principle is to sufficiently compensate countries with tropical forests and high rates of deforestation to not cut down their forests. For that reason the Government of Ecuador will present Plan Socio Bosque as a national REDD initiative at the international climate change conference in Poland starting next week.
Like many Amazonian tribes, the Huaorani are experts at sustainable forest management. Not only is deforestation bad for their health and culture but within the new eco-tourism and climate change era, it is also bad for business. The Huaorani are therefore a vital asset to new initiatives like Socio Bosque and the Ecuadorian economy through their knowledge and expertise in looking after forests. With the correct support and respect for their rights, the Huaorani and other indigenous peoples’ in the Ecuadorian Amazon have the potential to becoming key players in the region’s future.
This article was first posted on Latino Cambio
The threshold of sustainability concept is something we are developing a lot around South America with various governments - its proving to be quite popular - specifically linking tourism management capacity with revenue generation and reinvestment as a precursor to being able to build markets and improve community benefits. GSTA Ecuador is helping Ecuador become the first country to implement this approach.
The film crew and the ‘wife’ were present in the community for a month complete with cases of beer. The major complaint about the programme stems from the portrayal of the Huaorani as curious feathered creatures who wander around naked, more of a circus spectacle than a picture of a traditional culture in need of respect and protection. Little was said about their situation re the loggers and oil companies.
This is not the sort of thing that helps the Huaorani or any indigenous group. Moi Enomenga, President of the Asociación Quehueri’ono will make a video statement about the programme and its impact on the communities.
The museum will provide a space for promotion of the Lodge and every Tropic client will receive a free pass to the Museum. Web links will be made between the sites of the two organisations and Tropic’s City Tour will now include a visit and lunch at the Museum.
Familiarization visits have made with donors, and an agreement signed with the Secoya for the development of the project. The scheme is based on the concept of tent platforms which will allow maximum rainforest experience at a relatively low cost.
The President convened the gathering to discuss and plan tourism development strategies, with particular emphasis on community based low impact tourism.
An agreement has been signed to provide support for the landing strip close the community of Quehueri’ono and a communication system at Huaorani Ecolodge, as well as general support for tourism.
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We can report that everything went as planned and client feedback was positive. Their suggestions will be analysed and incorporated into future trip planning.
After the success of last year’s visit we would really like to have the opportunity to show you our new venture in the Amazon Rainforest and experience it through the eyes of our Huaorani friends.
By choosing responsible travel, you can have the fabulous vacation that you´ve dreamed of, while......