Friday Foto

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Administrator

Vamos a practicar el español para la Friday Foto!

For all of this week and next, the FSC is providing the opportunity for Spanish classes for 14 male and female Cofán leaders (including Cofán park guards). Students from different Cofán communities came to the FSC office in Quito on Sunday to start a two-week Spanish course. Being able to understand and perform in Spanish is essential for the Cofán to be able to participate more effectively in the conservation of their territories. Two great teachers from the Mitad del Mundo Spanish Academy have prepared special lesson plans, which include helpful conservation vocabulary and practical exercises like writing patrol reports, for the Cofán students, and will take them on several “field trips” so the students have a chance to practice what they’ve learned! These classes are made possible thanks to USAID-ICAA (Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon) funding.

Beginner class

Intermediate/Advanced class

Amazon Crude- CBS 60 Minutes

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Administrator

Cofán Survival Fund would like to share this video “Amazon Crude” from the CBS news program 60 Minutes, aired in 2009, on Chevron’s colossal impact in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the lawsuit being carried out against the oil company by Ecuadorians, including the Cofán. The sludge pits shown in the video, slowly seeping into the soil and the water and left by Texaco for over 25 years are still there today.

Here is the corresponding article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/01/60minutes/main4983549.shtml

Chigai’ccu, adiós, and goodbye 2011!

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Administrator

Well, folks, so much for 2011.

It has been an extremely… diverse, is perhaps the best word, year for us at Cofan Survival Fund. While we have kept in touch with our newsletters and stories, I trust you won’t be bored if I present a synopsis of what we’ve been doing and what things look like as we go into the coming year.

Board changes

First, it is with great sadness that I announce the resignation of our founding director and long-time board member, Clark Vaughn. The Cofan Survival Fund was merely a dream in 1998 when he and I spent a Sunday church service outside the doors of the church instead of inside. Unlike everyone else up to that point, he went the extra step beyond the well-meant suggestions- “ you should form a not-for-profit to handle your conservation activities”- and said, “I will help you form a not-for-profit to handle your conservation activities.” He did most of the legal work both in the US and Ecuador to create our entity, and put out the word to friends of his who helped- and still help- to get us started and keep us going. His activities with us were only part of his tremendous capacity for helping others; he founded and directed the For His Children orphanage, which cares for handicapped orphans that could not receive adequate attention in most orphanages here in Ecuador, and has been involved in numerous other social activities. Unfortunately, about two years ago he began to experience muscle weaknesses, which were eventually diagnosed as ALS, or Lou Geghrig’s disease. As his condition has deteriorated, he has withdrawn from his responsibilities one by one, including his directorship with us. He leaves a huge hole in our fabric. His wise advice and constant willingness to jump in and take on the challenges we face will be missed.

Financial and legal difficulties

It has been a difficult year financially for us, as with most of the world. Inflation, spiraling labor costs, and increased government controls and restrictions have eaten into our budgets even as outside pressures on our precious rain forests have also risen. We have pulled back on many of our smaller initiatives, such as the Amazon River Turtle Project, the Education Project, the Ecocanoa Project, and our Tourism Project, to be able to concentrate our limited resources on territorial integrity and management. With 500,000 hectares of forests under our administration, this is NOT a light task in and of itself.

Cofan parkguards on Aguarico River A major problem for us in the past year has been new laws and regulations which seriously compromise our ability to field our park guards to protect our forests. I described this in detail in a special letter to our donor community (available for anyone who would like more information) but the basics is that we can no longer use “living allowances” as a payment method for our park guards. Rather, we have to hire the park guards as full-time employees, with social security and other benefits, but also with taxes and a multitude of government deductions. Actual cost for each park guard jumps from approximately $350 to almost $500 per person, not counting food, equipment, and mobilization costs, meaning our overall real costs rise to around $750 per person. On top of this, the CSF, as an independent not-for-profit, cannot act as a direct employer.

The good news is that we’re well on the way to solving at least some of the problems. We have been able to create (at government level!) a new category of employment for the park guards, honoring the culturally and logistically dictated one month-on, one month-off work schedule, and have been able to pass the actual employment on to the Cofan Federation (FEINCE), a logical move we have been working on for a long time. As the political representative of the Cofan Nation in Ecuador, the Federation takes over the employer role, while CSF continues as coordinator and administrator of this extremely successful program.

But this still leaves us with another problem, especially given the tremendous increase in cost per park guard we are facing. Where do we get the money to keep this program operating? This has been the rock against which we have been bashing ourselves for quite some time. Our foundation and government-based donors have all been very clear that their funding is aimed at “start-up costs” and that somehow we needed to magically find a way to keep this going into the future. We have been searching for help in setting up a long-term trust fund. We have worked continuously to try to access the famous “carbon sequestration market” and the even more elusive REDD initiatives. None of these options to date have come through. BUT we have been successful in inserting three of our community areas into the government’s Socio Bosque program. This is a pioneering effort by the Ecuadorian government to pay “incentives” to owners of intact rain forest and highland environments to maintain these areas in their natural state by way of insuring their environmental services. While pay scales do not cover the minimum recurring costs for the protection of these areas, they represent the first time we have actually seen an entity “putting its money where its mouth is” on a long-term basis when it comes to environmental services. Each community manages its own fund internally, presenting an annual “investment plan” which includes health, education, administrative costs, and of course, conservation.

In a great show of confidence on the part of the Cofan, each community has dedicated part of their funding to the park guard program. Total at the moment is $85,000- still a long way from the almost $500,000 per year we need to be able to continue to control and manage our 500,000 hectares- but it is a tremendous boost to us to have the Cofan Nation not only buying into the long-term conservation of these forests as implementers but also as direct funders.

The big picture

At this point, let me back off a bit and give my readers both barrels of the shotgun. For tiny indigenous communities in the middle of the Amazon to contribute almost 50% of their village incomes to help pay for maintaining intact forests that provide environmental services for the rest of the world, when they are NOT the ones to blame in the slightest for things like climate change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity and all the rest, is a true slap in the face from the rest of a complacent world.

Speaking as a Cofan, we did not ask for the gasoline and plastics that have fueled the oil exploration and exploitation in our homeland. We did not ask for the gold jewelry and computer conducting systems which fuels the mining activities in our homeland. We did not ask for the fancy furniture and parquet floors that fuel the destruction of our ancient trees. And now, the world says it needs our forests to offset climate change which causes tornados in the middle of the US and hurricanes on the Brazilian coast and unpredictable destruction in China and Europe. We never wanted to damage our forests in the first place, and now we have set up a system that at least partially protects them from outside pressures that we are not part of. It involves lots of time and effort; it involves dangerous situations where our lives are on the line; it involves our scant village budgets; it involves constant watchfulness and tremendous work in what to the rest of the world can only be described as hostile conditions. If a tiny indigenous nation can do this, where is the rest of the world?

We cannot hold off the pressures we are facing alone. This means legal, political, and financial support from others who are concerned about intact forests, climate change amelioration, environmental services and the rest….

We need 5000 supporters

Our Campaign for 5,000 (on our website) is one way you as an individual can help. The basic concept is to extend our “community” to include hundreds and eventually thousands of people, businesses, and other entities to all be part of a down-to-earth solution for a specific area being handled by real people on a daily basis. If we can pull this off- the creation of an extended, worldwide community dedicated to the direct conservation of the 500,000 hectares under Cofan control- then we can also think about doing the same thing for other areas of forest.

Speaking of our forests, I hope everyone has taken a look at our absolutely incredible pictures of mountain tapirs posted on our blog! This is what it’s all about, folks. There are only an estimated2,000 of these amazing animals left (compare with an estimated population of 4,000 of the black rhino, a very endangered close relative from Africa). Our territories harbor one of their last truly intact reserves. We still don’t have enough data to accurately estimate numbers, but I’m guessing that a VERY substantial percentage of the world’s supply of mountain tapirs is calling our lands “home.”

I realize this update is a bit late getting out. I should have a further update ready in a week or so. It’s been a hectic and difficult first month of the year here. We keep hoping things will slow down a bit, but as the pace of “development” increases, so does the work load as we continue to maintain the forest that for so long has maintained us.

But, we are never too busy to say thank you to all Cofan supporters out there. It is because of you we are able to protect our dear forests and our way of life.

Signing off,

Randy

Tapir Camera Trap Gallery

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Administrator

Hola Cofan Survival Fund supporters!

To make up for a lack of a Friday Foto, here for your pleasure is our mountain tapir (and one puma) camera trap gallery!

: Tapir by the lake

: Tapir ears

: Tapir Nose

: Tapir lips

: Tapir feeding

: Tapir camera trap

: Tapir camera trap 2

: Tapir camera trap 3

: Puma camera trap

If you didn’t know already, these images are part of a series of images captured from camera traps set up in the Ccuttopoe (in Cofan “Place of the Constant Fog”) area in the Rio Cofanes Territory. The Andean Tapir Participatory Monitoring project is being carried out by the Institute for Environmental Conservation and Training (ICCA) and EcoFondo. There are only an estimated 2,000 of tapirs left (compare with an estimated population of 4,000 of the black rhino, a very endangered close relative from Africa). Our territories harbor one of their last truly intact reserves. Still no definite numbers yet, but we estimate a substantial number of these amazing animals left in the wild call Cofan territories “home.”

To read more about biological monitoring done in Cofan territories, visit our website.

Friday Foto

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Administrator

Today’s first Friday Foto of February (say that three times fast) was taken in November 2011 and is of the Ecocanoa, or ecological canoe, workshop in the Zábalo community.

This project started with an initiative from Cofán Survival Fund and the European Union´s Proyecto Petramaz to find an ecologically-friendly version of the canoe incorporating the quality and design of the ancient technique without destroying century-old trees. Cofáns were trained in making these new fiberglass canoes, and now the project is run completely by the community.

Ecocanoa workshop

Park Ranger Report January 2011

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Administrator

Hello everyone,

We want our readers and supporters to know what we are up to at the FSC. So, we will be periodically posting the monthly reports received from our Cofán park rangers, edited and translated from Spanish. We are going to start with reports from 2011. We hope you enjoy reading about all the things the rangers do to keep the forests protected!

Cofán Park Ranger Report

Leader: Segundo Lucitante

Place: La Barquilla Station in the Cofan Bermejo Ecological Reserve

Month: January 2011

Jan. 3: We had a 9am meeting to coordinate our field assignments in different areas. Our group was sent to the Barquilla sector to carry out control and patrol activities and make sure the boundary trails are clear.

Jan 4: After breakfast the next day we went out to clean up the administration office in the Cofan Bermejo Ecological Reserve and went out to collect firewood.

Jan 5: After breakfast we left to clean up the boundary trails, and worked from 7:20 am to 4 pm. No other activity to report.

Jan 6: Rainy, we couldn’t go into the field. Collected wood.

Jan 7: We continued clearing the boundary trail where we left off before.

Jan 11: Set out to carry out control and monitoring activities, including animal monitoring, around the CBER limits.

Jan 12: In the afternoon we went down to the station close to El Paraiso where we cleaned the area around the station.

Jan 13: Cleared about one kilometer of CBER’s trail.

Jan 14-19: Cleaned up station in El Paraiso sector. Continued clearing boundary trail.

Jan 21: Called up to check on work done in Chispa sector by park guards hired by the Socio Bosque coordinator.

Jan 27: Went on patrol to the Bermejo River, and we went to check out where sometimes miners come into the territory using the river, but this time we only saw animal tracks.

Jan 28: Finished the cleaning of the station and left to turn in our field equipment to the Park Ranger office in Lago Agrio.

Andes to Amazon 2012 Summer Adventure

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Administrator

Andes to Amazon:

A Journey of Culture and Nature Seen Through the Eyes of the Cofan

2012 Dates: August 8-19

Join us for our summer 2012 trip, Andes to Amazon: A Journey of Culture and Nature Seen Through the Eyes of the Cofán!

The journey begins at the continental divide in north-central Ecuador, where tropical air currents dump the moisture that forms the Amazon, and we will be able to experience the growth of rivers that curl their way downward from 13,000 ft. toward the tropical forests.

Reventador volcano

We work our way down, hiking in cloud forests replete with orchids, countless birds, and rare and endangered species including the spectacled bear and mountain tapir. We continue our descent following the headwaters of the Coca River as they grow in size and eventually take the plunge to form the Cascadas de San Rafael, a 500 ft. high waterfall that is one of the most impressive in South America.

San Rafael Descending further, we enter the Aguarico River system, home to the Cofán people of the Amazon rainforest. Embarking in canoes, we head to Zabalo, a village founded by Randy that is now the center of local conservation efforts. From here, we set out for hikes in the rainforest, then hop in canoes on the magical waters of the Zabalo River to spend two nights at a remote riverside camp where wildlife abounds, from brilliant macaws to caimans to several species of monkeys.

This journey grants us an insider’s view of the beauty of nature that is up to all of us to conserve in the Amazon ecosystems, as seen through the historical and cultural perspectives of the Cofán people.

This trip is an extraordinary opportunity to discover Cofán culture with a guide renowned for his knowledge of this special world. Please note that this is a journey in a very remote region, with some rustic accommodations, and is designed for those who are adventurous in body and spirit.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Quito

Arrive in Quito (9,300 ft), the highland capital of Ecuador…Meals and hotel on your own

Day 2 Papallacta Hot Springs

After breakfast, we set out for an hour’s drive to the high paramo habitat of Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca. The paramo is a high elevation ecosystem that extends throughout the Andes and provides habitats for multiple bird and mammal species. We stop at the continental divide (12,500 ft), where, on a clear day, the peaks of Antisana and Cayambe will be visible, with a splendid view of this rugged world where the Amazon’s waters begin.

Weather permitting, we hike from here down to the Papallacta hot springs complex (approximately 4 hours). If the day is foggy or rainy, we’ll spend a short time at the pass and then travel along small side roads to look at the ecology as we continue down to Papallacta, where we can relax and soak in the hot spring pools for the rest of the afternoon. Overnight in comfortable cabins at the Termas de Papallacta…BLD

Day 3 Cloud Forest Walk / Baeza

We leave Papallacta early and drive to Cuyuja, a small town only 30 minutes away but over 1,000 ft lower in elevation. From here we hike into the cloud forest via a corduroy trail (path laid with logs) that takes us through temperate zone woods and small pasture lands. This trail offers incredible birding, with numerous bright and bold tanagers, jays, toucans, quetzals, guans, caciques, and parrots, huge Spanish cedar forests (exclusive to this region), abundant orchids, and archaeological sites.

We stop for lunch at Randy Borman’s cabin on a farm he bought a few years ago. We return to the road in the afternoon and continue about 45 minutes farther to spend the night in the ancient colonial town of Baeza, founded in the 1550s and one of the oldest registered “cities” in the new world. In spite of its age, Baeza has not grown, and still retains its flavor as a small and quiet resting point on the trip into the Amazon. Overnight at Gina’s, a simple but clean and comfortable inn with a restaurant offering good food…BLD

Day 4 Cascadas de San Rafael / Montane Forest / Pizarras Guard Station

Our morning 3-hour hike is to the Cascadas de San Rafael (Coca Falls), one of the most impressive waterfalls in South America. A symbol of the precipitous descent of the waters from the Andes to the Amazon. The area is part of the Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca and includes montane forests that are refuge for spider monkeys, cock-of-the-rocks, the rare wattled guan, and many other endangered animals.

On a clear day, Reventador, sacred volcano of the Cofans, is visible from the trail. During the hike, we will learn about the issues facing this area, including the danger facing the falls from a hydroelectric plant that is under construction.

After a typical Ecuadorian lunch (soup, rice, vegetables, and beef or chicken) at a restaurant in Reventador, a small town with a splendid view of the active volcano of the same name, we continue down to the Rio Aguarico, the river system that is home to the traditional Cofan people, and then upriver to the Pizarras Guard Station on the upper Aguarico.

This simple station provides lodging not only for the Cofan rangers who guard the lower region of the Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca against mining and lumber interests. Please keep in mind this is definitely a rustic location where comforts are minimum. Bathing is in the river or in the small stream that provides water for the site. A simple but clean and functional toilet system is in operation. Our Cofan bush cook will prepare our meals over an open fire and we will share them with the station guards…BLD

Day 5 Pizarras / Lago Agrio

We enjoy spectacular scenery including cock-of-the-rock and military macaws as we hike along the Aguarico headwaters to the confluence of the Rios Chingual and Cofanes. Meanwhile, beach rocks tell the story of the region, mixing fossil-bearing metamorphic formations with more recent volcanic elements, and with the added spice of gold, ranging from dust to nuggets (if you’re lucky!).

We return to Pizarras in the mid-afternoon (and if conditions allow, by boat—an exciting whitewater experience) and continue by vehicle to Lago Agrio. Overnight at Hotel Gran Lago in comfortable, air-conditioned cabins with private bathrooms…BLD

Day 6 Zabalo

Traveling through oil production and agricultural areas in what used to be the heartland of the Cofan, we reach Santa Mercedes, a small port of entry on the Rio Aguarico (approx. 2 hours drive). Here we leave the road and board our ecocanoes-large fiberglass canoes powered by outboard motors made by the Cofán-for a 3-hour trip downriver to Zabalo, arriving in the mid-afternoon. One of twelve Ecuadorian Cofan communities, Zabalo is the center of Cofan conservation efforts, with the largest amount of intact pristine rainforest under its control—almost half a million acres. Among its noteworthy biodiversity-related projects is the award-winning Amazon Turtle Rescue Program. While based in Zabalo, we learn what life is like for Cofans in the 21st century.

Our accommodations in Zabalo are comfortable but rustic. The village operates four thatch-roofed hardwood cabins, each with two rooms with two beds apiece (4 persons per cabin). The community provides mattresses, bedding, and mosquito nets. Bathrooms are located in a cement building behind the cabins and provide showers and flush toilets. From the cabins you can see the community soccer field, the school, teacher’s house, water tower, covered sports court, and thatch-roofed community house, and in the mornings you can see the men walking to work at the ecocanoe workshop.

An accomplished bush cook will accompany us during our entire stay at Zabalo. Our meals are prepared and served in a local village home, giving us an extraordinary opportunity to be part of a Cofán household, if only for a little while. Meals include food like pancakes, pasta, fresh fish caught from the river, chicken, rice and fresh veggies and fruit…BLD

Day 7 Zabalo

From the village, we hike into the rainforest of the “Terra Firma” ecosystem to the north of Zabalo—part of the largest remaining contiguous forest in the world. (There are no roads or large human populations until you eventually reach the Rio Negro region to the east). During our hike we learn about the Cofans’ traditional interaction with the rainforest, including the use of medicinal plants, basket weaving, etc.

Return to Zabalo for dinner and overnight…BLD

Days 8-9 Zabalo River Camp

Loading our gear, we move to our camp on the banks of the Rio Zabalo. Here we enjoy boating by small dugout canoes, take short hikes in igapo (flooded) forests, fish—with the opportunity to catch (and eat) pirañas, and see a variety of wildlife. Our camp is an open-sided, thatch-roofed hut with a raised floor, with a latrine right behind the cabins. This is definitely a rustic site, but any discomforts are offset by the fact that we are surrounded by beautiful, pristine Amazon rain forest and faaar from the hustle of everyday life.

Day 10 Zabalo

Returning to Zabalo, we visit its small, impromptu village market where handicrafts are displayed made by community women and children. In the evening we enjoy a farewell dinner of all local, traditional foods…BLD

Day 11 Return to Quito

We journey back to Quito via Santa Mercedes and Lago Agrio, then fly from Lago Agrio to Quito. Dinner and hotel on your own in Quito…BL

Day 12 Quito

Back home!

Trip Costs

The basic program described above includes all land and water based transportation, all accommodations, guides, lodging, food, cooks, crews, and village and community fees from the time we pick people up at their hotel in Quito until we have everyone back in the Lago Agrio airport.

Not included are Quito hotels, meals, and transfers, local air transport (Lago Agrio-Quito), park and reserve fees, alcoholic beverages, and any extra services such as special side trips, laundry services, etc. Tips are optional but always appreciated.

Cost:

Number of people in group.	Cost per person.
4-6	US $1400
7-12	US $1200

Friday Foto

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Administrator

The last Friday Foto was of a mountain tapir in the Rio Cofanes Territory, so this week’s Friday Foto is of a spectacled bear (oso anteojos in Spanish) in the same area! The bears get their name from the light coloring that some have around their eyes, making it look like they are wearing glasses, and are the only surviving native bear species in South America. The spectacled bear is considered a threatened species and are losing their natural habitat, which is why it is so important to preserve and protect the Rio Cofanes Territory.

Friday Foto

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Administrator

Happy new year to everyone from your friends at the FSC!

Today’s Friday Foto was taken recently on one of the trips our Cofán park guards and biologists working on the Andean Tapir Participatory Monitoring project being carried out by the Institute for Environmental Conservation and Training (ICCA) and EcoFondo. This photo was taken by one of the camera traps set up by the team in the Rio Cofanes territory. This is of a mountain tapir that was walking along a ridge that the team spotted, and they managed to snap quite a few pictures. These mountain tapirs are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and this project is trying to document the tapirs that live in the Rio Cofanes territory. Cofán territories are full of endangered and threatened species, and it is through the work of Cofán park guards that these territories and the species that call the areas home are protected.

Shopping in the rain forest: My trip to Zábalo

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Administrator

Dear all,

My name is Christine, and since August I have been working as the Projects and Development Coordinator for the FSC. I have been having a great (and sometimes stressful) time learning about this job, but one thing was missing: a trip to actual Cofán territories. Luckily for me, in November, I had the opportunity to visit Zábalo, the Cofán community in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Zábalo is located within Cuyabeno, one of the reserves included in Ecuador’s National System of Protected Areas. The community is composed of 35 families, divided into a group that lives in the village proper, and extended family groups that are scattered up the river. The village is located on the banks of the Aguarico River, which you reach after a two-hour car ride from the town of Lago Agrio and a 3-hour ride in a motorized canoe. I made the trip with Randy as guide and a group of conservationists, several who were from the Field Museum, an organization that has carried out Rapid Biological Inventories in Cofán territories, highlighting the staggering amount of biodiversity they hold.

Arriving in Zábalo

As I mentioned above, to enter Zábalo you need to first enter Cuyabeno, a national reserve. Just because it’s a designated protective area, however, does not mean it is off limits to oil activity. On our way down the Aguarico River heading to Zábalo, we saw barges heading upriver with oil tankers, motor boats full of oil workers and several oil camps on the riverbank. But once we transitioned into Cofán territory, it was incredible how we stopped seeing oil workers and started seeing and hearing animals. It was obvious that the Cofán model of territory and biodiversity protection was working.

We arrived in Zábalo as dusk was falling, and the mosquitoes were out in full force. We ate dinner in a community member’s house, readied our beds and mosquito nets in the tourist cabins, and called it a night.

Day 1

We headed out to the Zábalo River, a tributary of the Aguarico, and one of the “blackwater” rivers in the area. A blackwater river slowly flows through swamps and wetlands, and obtains its tea or coffee color by the tannins leaching out of decaying organic material. This kind of river is much lower in nutrients than whitewater rivers. The change from whitewater to blackwater was unmistakable as brown water butted up against black as we crossed the line in the canoe.

Well, the amount of wildlife we saw and heard was truly amazing. Among the highlights were five species of monkey (squirrel, capuchin, howler, wooly and titi), scarlet and blue and gold macaws, toucans, pink dolphins, a caiman, bats, giant otters (rare!), Charapa turtles, the conga or “bullet” ant, a tiger heron sitting on her nest, the guan bird and lots of other birds that a non-birdwatcher like myself can’t identify.

One of the most bizarre animals we saw that day was a baby potoo bird (see photo). This bird perches on top of stumps during the day and blends in so well with the tree that it is effectively invisible. What’s more, a mother lays a single egg on a stump like this, so I think it’s safe to say our baby potoo will spend a lot of its life sitting on a stump. Cofáns found the egg one day and were monitoring it, and were puzzled when it disappeared! A while later they laughed when they saw a tuft of feathers sticking up from the stump: the baby had hatched, not disappeared! You can watch David Attenborough’s encounter with the bird here.

After lunch, two of our group departed in a dugout canoe made by Carlos, Randy’s father-in-law, and the rest of us continued on to try our luck with some fishing. It didn’t go as planned: what we thought would be a quick Amazon rain shower turned into an Amazon deluge, and we didn’t catch any fish. We met up with the two other group members, who had somehow avoided the rain altogether, and went back to Zábalo wet but very satisfied with our river journey.

That night I went to Luis’ house, the coordinator of the Charapa Turtle Project, to get an update on his work. This project has been amazingly successful, and most of the turtles we saw on the river that day were there thanks to this project dedicated to the recovery of this animal, which was in danger of being eradicated in this area not too many years ago.

Climbing up the stairs to my cabin, I spied a wolf spider under the stairs, which on any other day would have kept me up at night, but I was too tired this night to worry, and slipped into sleep to the sound of the jungle.

Day 2

Our second day was spent hiking a trail that biologists from the Field Musuem had used for a rapid biological inventory in Cuyabeno/Gueppi in 2008. We put on our rubber boots and marched into the forest.

On our way in, Carlos and Randy pointed out a palm which the Cofán use to make chigras, a bag woven from the palm fibers, and handed out the leaves for us to try (I couldn’t get my fibers to separate). A little further Carlos took another, different type of palm leaf and in less than five minutes expertly fashioned a backpack. A Field Museum representative with us wholeheartedly endorsed these backpacks, saying how, during the biological inventory the team members were having trouble with their synthetic, high-tech backpacks, their Cofán guides made each of them one of these “green” backpacks to put the first backpacks inside, which turned out to be more comfortable. These backpacks can last up to a couple weeks. During lunch, Carlos made a small basket from plant fibers, which are widely used in Cofán homes for various uses.

Every time we stopped on the trail, for lunch or for Randy to point a plant or animal out to us, Amelia and Alfonso, her brother-in-law, would sit down and work onseparating the fibers for the chigras I mentioned before. They didn’t waste a moment. As we were on our way back, Randy chopped off some bark from a tree so we could pass it around and take a piece to bite. “We use this for sore throats, but you have to chew a lot of it or make a tea” he said. He took some other tree bark home for his four-year-old son, who is prone to nosebleeds. Later Amelia, Randy’s wife, grabbed a couple branches that look like a stick with four perpendicular sticks sticking out like a cross at one end. She whittled these down so she had a tool she can use to mash bananas (or whatever you need mashing).

After we returned to the village and ate a dinner of typical Cofán cuisine, consisting of plantain, bread fruit, banana drink, a catfish caught that morning in the river, and bread made from the yucca, or cassava, plant, I reflected on our hike. It struck me how, if I need, say, some medicine for a sore throat or yarn so I can knit a scarf or a cooking utensil, I go to the pharmacy or the supermarket or another store. But for the Cofán, the forest is their all-purpose store. While I’m sure they enjoy being in the forest, they go for a completely different purpose than a tourist who wants to see a monkey or a professional photographer who needs the perfect shot of leaf cutter ants or a biologist who wants to register the different kinds of palm tree.

The Cofán go to the forest because they need the resources the forest provides. And I’m not talking in esoteric terms about the forest providing carbon sequestration or something like that, although everyone in the world benefits from that service. I’m talking in a very practical way, they use the forest, and they use it sustainably. While I saw our hike as a pleasant excursion to see plants and animals, the Cofán around me were gathering supplies they would use later. The best part is that the forest can be all these things: a retreat for the tourist, a laboratory for the biologist, the store for the indigenous, as long as there are people working to conserve it. What it cannot be is a source for the extractive industries like oil, mining and lumber, that if go unchecked will destroy it.

I am very glad I had the opportunity to visit Zábalo and meet some of those who live there, because this trip made it even more clear to me how important it is to protect these still pristine forests and this way of life. I wish everyone could come and experience life in Zábalo, but unfortunately it is too far for some. However, it is possible to join in our conservation efforts and support our various programs, including the program of Cofán park guards who work to protect their ancestral territory. Starting at only $10 a month, you can become a member of the Campaign for 5000, a grassroots conservation partnership between 5,000 donors and 1,000 Cofán. Or make a one-time donation on our website.

Don’t forget to visit our blog, where we post a weekly “Friday Foto.” And please check out our Facebook and Twitter pages, where we post daily news concerning the Cofán, the Amazon and environmental news in Ecuador.

Take care, and many thanks for your continued support,
Christine