Ecuador: Quechua Indians Applaud Biosphere Listing
Copyright 2000 Inter Press Service
December 27, 2000
By Kintto Lucas
TENA, Ecuador, Dec. 27 - Quechua Indians in the Amazon jungle provinces of Napo and Orellana in northeastern Ecuador are pleased with the recent declaration of the Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve.
Some 80,000 subsistence farmers, 70 percent of whom are of Quechua origin, live around the 931,215-hectare park, some of them planting traditional crops like coffee, cacao, yucca and bananas to sell at market.
Antonio Avils, a local Quechua, said UNESCO's Nov. 9 decision to list the national park as a biosphere reserve would help people understand the need to "promote sustainable development by integrating the human being as a key actor in ecological conservation."
"We Indians live entwined with nature. The leaves, the animals, the rivers -- it is as if we and they were one and the same," Avils said in mid-December in Tena, the capital of the province of Napo. "That's why we are forever asking the world to help us maintain our lifestyle, and this reserve draws us into the conservation effort."
The German Company for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), which has worked for years in the area through the Gran Sumaco Project, promoted the idea to list the area as a biosphere reserve, and the proposal was presented by Ecuador's Environment Ministry, with the support of local authorities.
The concept of the biosphere reserve is aimed at striking a balance between conservation and sustainable human development, explained engineer Hans Knoblauch, GTZ's chief adviser to the Gran Sumaco Project.
The reserves are based on "the premise that no conservation activity can be successful while local residents are struggling against poverty," said Knoblauch.
According to UNESCO, biosphere reserves, which foster development that is socially, culturally and ecologically sustainable, are the only model of conservation that connects the protection of biodiversity with the livelihood of local people.
There are a total of 391 biosphere reserves worldwide, with a combined territory of more than 260 million hectares.
Environmentalists see the Sumaco area as especially important because it has seven distinct ecosystems in a relatively small space.
"It is still possible to find animals here in certain abundance that you no longer see in other areas, like the jaguar, anteater, spectacled bear, tapir and giant armadillo," said Avils. More than 654 species of birds have been identified in the area as well, along with 470 species of fish and 6,000 species of vascular plants.
The biosphere reserve encompasses the lion's share of the municipalities of Tena, Archidona, Quijos and El Chaco in the province of Napo, and the Loreto canton in the province of Orellana.
National parks form the core of the UNESCO biosphere reserve conservation effort, as spaces to be used solely for the preservation of species and ecosystems, scientific research and ecotourism activities.
The reserves are surrounded by buffer zones, where human activities are permitted as long as they are compatible with conservation objectives, and transition zones, where sustainable economic activities are promoted and developed.
The people living around the biosphere reserve will become "guardians of the environment" and receive assistance for protecting the reserve, boosting agricultural production, and building development alternatives, said Knoblauch.
The sustainable development activities of the reserve are focused on bolstering the livelihoods of local residents through productive activities that encourage the sustainable use of natural resources in the manufacture of crafts and other products, and the promotion of the area's natural beauty in ecotourism enterprises.
The UNESCO listing of the area will help GTZ and other public entities or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide training in new livelihood skills in traditional and nontraditional productive areas and education on the environment and ecotourism, as well as support for scientific research, said Knoblauch.
The classification of the biosphere reserve, created in 1974, is given to ecosystems that UNESCO believes exemplify the equilibrium that is possible between humans and the environment.
Before listing an area as a biosphere reserve, UNESCO assesses its international value in terms of conservation, sustainable development and scientific research. When a country applies for the declaration of an area as a biosphere reserve, it must present a map and plan for the zoning, plans for management and sustainable development, and programs for research, education, training and monitoring.
The listing of the Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park coincided with the start of a campaign by the Ibero-American Network of Biosphere reserves aimed at drumming up political and financial support to protect the 62 areas listed by UNESCO in Latin America.
"We want biosphere reserves to stop being managed simply as national parks, and for local communities to be involved in their protection and development," Eduard Mller, coordinator of the Ibero-American Network, told IPS early this month in Costa Rica.
The Ibero-American Network was created in 1993 and is comprised of delegates of governments, NGOs and universities from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Its new campaign targets Latin American governments, NGOs, financial entities, and United Nations agencies.
"Latin America's big problem is that many governments have sought the designation of biosphere reserves, but without involving local populations," said Mller.
Knoblauch, meanwhile, said that one aspect essential to the functioning of a biosphere reserve was coordination and cooperation between the organizations and institutions working in the area.
"The co-execution of activities and the sharing of responsibilities in the development process, while promoting local residents' capacity for self-administration, is later reflected in an improvement in their quality of life," he said.
An important source of revenue for biosphere reserves throughout the world is ecotourism and cultural exchange, which are promoted by the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
"The generation of products with a biosphere reserve stamp and certificate of quality facilitates the penetration of attractive new markets, and helps boost local incomes," said Knoblauch.