At the FSC, we are always focusing on collaborating with other groups to create, carry out and consolidate conservation management strategies. One of our activities revolves around the creation of a new conservation zone, a “franja verde” or “green strip,” which would complement our Rio Cofanes territory and the La Bonita Municipal Reserve, which we also helped create in 2009.

Map of proposed Green Strip, blue box on left

In the above map from the Chicago Field Museum 2009 biological inventory, you can see the proposed Franja Verde passing through Carchi and Imbabura provinces, running along the La Bonita Municipal Reserve (this map was made before La Bonita became legal) and the Rio Cofanes underneath.

We have been meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Environment for the provinces of Sucumbios, Carchi, Imbabura and Esmeraldas, the provincial governments of Carchi and Imbabura, five municipal governments and other local stakeholders in order to create another municipal reserve in the Carchi and Imbabura provinces. Being an important watershed, this area provides essential environmental services to several Ecuadorian provinces, making it a conservation priority for both the governments and the Cofan nation.

Dusk near Monte Olivo, Carchi province

Activities with community members

During this preliminary period, FSC has participated in different kinds of activities with different sectors of society. As part of an effort to disseminate the proposed reserve, Freddy Espinosa, a representative of FSC, visited the high school and elementary school in Monte Olivo parish in Carchi province and a high school in Imbabura province. He was pleased to find students with a lot of knowledge about the area’s natural resources, and a desire to protect them. They discussed the extractive activities present in the area, like mining, colonization, and illegal trafficking of wildlife, and also the findings from the biological inventory carried out by the Chicago Field Museum.

High school students, Carchi province

Freddy with elementary school students, Carchi province

Freddy and other interested people held a conference on the rights of nature in November 2011 for Carchi prefecture authorities, university students and other officials from Imbabura province. Another meeting was held in December 2011 with the Association of Parish Committees with the participation of 6 village districts from the provinces of Sucumbíos, Carchi and Imbabura. Freddy and others used this opportunity to clear up any confusion about colonizing land protected by the Cayambe Coca Reserve, the Rio Cofanes Territory and the La Bonita Reserve. The mayor of Pimanpiro also warned against any illegal colonization activity.

Meeting on rights of nature in Carchi

Current news

After many months of meetings with government officials, community members, and other stakeholders, we have determined that it is necessary to work at the “canton”-level and not at the provincial level, and so we will continue pushing for the creation of a conservation zone in cantón Bolivar in Carchi province and in cantón Pimanpiro in Imbabura province.

At the moment, a proposal is being drawn up that follows the model of the La Bonita Municipal Reserve. We continue to make progress and headway in dealing with the complex political processes around this activity, and hope for the creation of a conservation zone this year.

Versión español

En la FSC, siempre concentramos en colaborar con otros grupos para crear, realizar y consolidar estratégias del manejo de conservación. Una de las actividades se centra en la creación de una nueva zona de conservación, una “franja verde,” que complementaría nuestro territorio Rio Cofanes y la Reserva Municipal La Bonita, que ayudamos a crear en 2009.

En el mapa arriba hecho por el Chicago Field Museum durante su inventario biológico en 2009, se puede ver la Franja Verde propuesta pasando por las provincias de Carchi e Imbabura, a lo largo de la Reserva La Bonita (se hizo este mapa antes de la legalización de la reserva) y el Rio Cofanes abajo.

Hemos estado reuniendonos con los representates del Ministerio del Ambiente para las provincias de Sucumbíos, Carchi, Imbabura y Esmeraldas, los gobiernos provinciales de Carchi e Imbabura, cinco municipios y otros actores locales para crear otra reserva municipal en Carchi e Imbabura. Siendo una cuenca importante, este area proporciona servicios ambientales esenciales a varias provincias ecuatorianas, y debe ser una prioridad de conservación para los gobiernos en la nación Cofán.

Actividades con comunidades 

Durante este periodo preliminario, la FSC ha participado en diferentes tipos de actividades con sectores distintos de la sociedad. Como parte de un esfuerzo por difundir la propuesta de la reserva, Freddy Espinosa, un representante de la FSC, visitó las escuelas en la parroquia Monte Olivo en Carchi y un colegio en Imbabura. Le dio gusto encontrar los estudiantes  con mucho conocimiento sobre los recursos naturales de la zona, y el deseo de protegerlos. Hablaron de las actividades extractivas de la zona, como la minería, colonización desorganizada, y el tráfico ilegal de la vida silvestre, y también de los hallazgos del inventario biológico realizado por el Chicago Field Museum.

Freddy y otros interesados realizaron una conferencia sobre los derechos de la naturaleza en noviembre 2011 para las autoridades de la prefectura, estudiantes de la universidades, y otras autoridades de Imbabura. Se realizó otra reunión en deciembre 2011 con la mancomunidad de Juntas Parroquiales, con la participación de seis cantones aledaños de las provincias de Sucumbíos, Carchi e Imbabura. Freddy y los otros usaron esta oportunidad para aclarar cualquier confusión sobre la colonización de la tierra protegida en la Reserva Cayambe Coca, el territorio Rio Cofanes y la Reserva La Bonita. El alcalde de Pimanpiro también advirtió sobre la colonización ilegal.

Noticias actuales

Después de muchos meses de reuniones con autoridades del gobierno, miembros de las comunidades, y otros actores, hemos determinado que es necesario trabajar al nivel canton, y no provincial, entonces vamos a seguir empujando la creación de una franja verda en el cantón Bolivar en Carchi y en el cantón Pimanpiro en Imbabura.

En este momento, se está escribiendo una propuesta que sigue el modelo de la Reserva Municipal La Bonita. Continuamos progresando con los procesos políticos complejos involucrados en esta actividad, y esperamos la creación de una zona de conservación este año.

2012 Dates: August 8-19

Join us for a fascinating exploration of the origins of the Amazon ecosystem with guide Randy Borman!

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.

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.

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 ecotour 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:

For more ecotour information, contact Christine at coordinationfsc@gmail.com

La Friday Foto de hoy viene de la cámara de Alavaro del Campo, uno de los investigadores que vinieron en 2008 con otros biólogos del Chicago Field Museum para realizar un Inventario Biológico Rápido en el territorio Cofanes Chingual. Esta foto es de un coatí de montaña, miembro de la familia de mapache. Coatis de montaña se encuentran solamente en los Andes de Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela y tal vez Perú, y es raro encontrarlos en cautividad. No se sabe mucho de los coatís de montaña comparado con sus parientes de tierras bajas, pero se piensa que tienen comportamiento parecido. Este animal es amenazado con la destrucción de su hábitat, y la ausencia de datos científicos significa que se subestiman los problemas ecológicos que afectan su población.

La Friday Foto de hoy muestra a Carlos, su esposa, y otros miembros de la comunidad cofán Zábalo maniobrando la canoa alrededor de una acumulación de troncos, en camino a pescar en el Río Aguarico. Esta foto fue tomada por Dr. William Veal durante su investigación de la cultura cofán.

Miners, miners everywhere

Hello Cofán Survival Fund supporters,

We want our readers and supporters to know what we are up to at the FSC. So, as a way to keep you updated with on-the-ground action, we decided to start sharing 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!

Here is a Cofán park ranger report from a group working in the Cofan Bermejo area in June 2011. They had a lot of run-ins with miners, a growing problem in the Cofán territories and in Ecuador in general.

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COFÁN PARK RANGER REPORT

GROUP:     2
LEADER:    Hiter Yiyguaje 
COMMUNICATIONS: Sergio Criollo
FIRST AID: Rodrigo Yiyoguaje
LOGISTICS: Edgar Criollo
GEOGRAPHY: Olegario Criollo
LOCATION:  Cofan Bermejo Ecological Reserve
MONTH:   June 2011

OBJECTIVES:
·Control and patrol within the Cofan Bermejo Ecological Reserve
·Conserve ancestral Cofán territory
·Clean up borders of the reserve

ACTIVITY

June 1
All Cofán rangers met to talk about rules and plan responsibilities for those entering the field. Rangers leaving the field updated the others on their work done in the past month, and later we coordinated the entries into the different work areas in Cofán ancestral territory and protected areas. In the afternoon we left to go to the Barquilla station for control and patrol work.

June 2
We met with park guards from the Ministry of the Environment to plan work activities.

June 3
We left the station with a station partner and two ME park guards and followed the boundary trail. Along the trail we came across a farmer and he asked us where exactly the boundary of the reserve was located, because his farm is adjacent to the boundary. He also asked us if we knew when they were going to carry out a new drawing up of the boundaries and to let him know so he could help in the process and find out the exact GPS points. We told him that the farm bought by FEINCE (the Cofán political federation) still didn’t have exact boundaries yet, so we couldn’t start working on a trail. It’s necessary that members of FEINCE work to define the borders of the farm so a boundary trail can be made showing where the reserve begins, or else the farmers will come into Cofán territory and cut down timber. As a precaution, we took GPS points of the area.
During this patrol we arrived to the Rio Molino and spent the night there so we could continue the next day.

June 4
We started patrolling again in the morning and found a sign and a house with fields for sugar cane and banana, more or less 200 meters outside of the reserve. Farther on we found paths and a 5x5m cleared square. We continued on until we arrive to a large ravine.

June 5
The next day we continued patrolling. We continued climbing to the top of the mountain where we started to make camp, but one of us said that there was no water close by, so we descended a bit until we found a spring and stayed the night there.

June 6
We stayed on the mountain the next day because it was raining.

June 11
We left with all equipment to continue patrolling. In the afternoon it started to rain and the fog made visibility almost imposible, so we had to stop.

June 12
We continued patrolling the next day. In the distance we saw our destination: a mountiain. But we couldn’t pass because the ravine was thick with plants and slippery, with large rocks. We took the GPS point and photos and started to go down through a ridge. We ran into colonists cutting wood on the shore of the Rio Chingual and also saw a small farm. We continued on the shore until we arrived at the Barquilla station.

June 13
The next day we had a meeting with an ME park guard and the men who will form a miner association in the area. The miners told us that the law permitted artisanal mining activities and that the Cofán rangers cannot prohibit the use of rivers or land because they belong to the Ecuadorian state. We explained that if they don’t have a permit from the Ministry of Environment, we will not let them carry out any mining activity in Cofán ancestral territory or in the national reserves. We understand the rivers and land are for everyone, but they have to be managed in a formal manner.

June 14
After the meeting we left to go to the Pizarra station to continue on to Tres Piedras. On arriving we couldn’t cross a flooded river and had to make a detour to the FSC ranger office in Lago Agrio.

June 16
We left at 5:30 am to return to Pizarra station en route to Tres Piedras. We found the river still to be rising and still unpassable, so we returned to the office. We left part of our group at the office and continued with Angel Chimbo’s group. The same day we arrived to Pizarras station and a mining camp close to Cal hill. We discovered footprints leading to the path to the mouth of the Rio Chingual and took GPS points.

June 17
We arrived to the Rio Cofanes and found two mining camps on the shore. We took photos and GPS points and registered the equipment we found in the tent.

June 18
The morning began with rain, so we had to leave in the afternoon walking along the Rio Cofanes shore. We found another mining camp, continued on until we found another. We couldn’t continue because it was a slippery ridge, so we took GPS points.

June 19
At 6:30 am we started to follow the Rio Cofanes shore, checking out the different mining camps, until we arrived at the Rio Verde station. We found various mining camps within the Cayambe Coca National Park and others inside Cofán ancestral territory.

June 20
We left the Rio Verde station to go to the Pizarras station and arrived in Lago Agrio to make presentations about our work.

June 21
We spent the day cleaning up the areas outside the office.

 June 22
We gave a presentation at the Extraordinary Assembly with FEINCE about the work of the Cofán rangers within protected reserves and Cofán territory. We also gave a presentation about illegal mining activity. Various communities were present at the meeting and tried to look for solutions to the problem of illegal mining in our territory.June 23
We took care of tasks around the office.June 24
We left with Alex Descanse for El Chaco to enter the Cascabel sector to look for tapir tracks. We found one in the afternoon and took GPS points and returned.

June 25
We went farther into Cascabel but couldn’t find recent tracks, only days-old tracks, which we recorded with GPS points and returned to Lago Agrio.

BIOLOGICAL MONITORING

Date	Time	Type of Animal	Number	GPS	Obsv.
16/06/11	01:12:00	Pa’on (pink-throated turkey)	1		Seen
17/06/11	11:05:00	Con’sin (chorongo monkey)	3	X 0210786 Y 0022451	Seen
19/06/11	11:57:00	Con’sin	4	X 0211344 Y 0022240	Seen
28/06/11	04:40:00	Ccovi (tapir)	1	X 0191217 Y 9986346	Track

The above documentary tells the story of an oil spill in Napo province in Ecuador, but the same disaster could happen anywhere in the Amazon region, and has happened in Sucumbíos province and affected the Cofán and other indigenous and non-indigenous people.

THE FIGHT FOR WATER SYNOPSIS

On Feb. 28th, 2009 near the tiny village of Santa Rosa, the OCP pipeline breaks in Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest. An estimated 14,000 barrels of crude spill into the Napo and Coca Rivers, both of which are tributaries of the Amazon River.

The struggle for survival and access to potable water is presented within the framework of new environmental laws passed in Ecuador, part of a revolutionary concept that created the world’s first legal precedent for a Bill of Rights of Mother Nature. The film explores the specific case of the Santa Rosa spill, the legacy of contamination left by the Petroleum Industry, and profiles the people attempting to preserve one of the planet’s most important biodiversity hotspots.

The film also looks at another controversial issue along Ecuador’s northern border; the untold story of refugees displaced by the Colombian conflict, and the relationship between contamination and coca eradication programs that have been implemented near the border as part of Plan Colombia.

En la Friday Foto de hoy aparecen dos mujeres cofanes en el vestimento tradicional, esperando para interpretar un baile tradicional en Lago Agrio. En las muñecas se ponen patisa’cco, una fibra de palmera con un olor dulce, y alrededor del cuello usan cuencas y plumas. También se pintan las caras con tinte vegetal.

Por qué la gente indígena por fin está harta con el tratamiento del medioambiente por las petroleras? Por qué han estado luchando para casi 20 años por la justicia? El siguiente video es una parte del documental Crude Impact, que “explora la conexión entre la dominación humana del plantea y el descubrimiento y uso del petróleo.”

I took today’s Friday Foto last Wednesday in Lago Agrio, at the ranger offices of FSC, where The Nature Conservancy, USAID, and FSC held an event to showcase our two new vehicles courtesy of USAID donations. We were able to buy two new trucks, a pickup and this larger truck, which will be used for Cofán park ranger and supply mobilization. Every month Cofán rangers need to be taken into and out of the field from various locations and stations throughout Sucumbios province, meaning a lot of wear and tear on FSC vehicles. The average life span for a truck is only about five years!

Below you can see USAID Ecuador Project Development Officer Chris Saenger, Technical Director and Park Ranger Coordinator Roberto Aguinda, and current FEINCE president Robinson Yumbo.

Tomé la Friday Foto de hoy el miercoles pasado en Lago Agrio, en las oficinas de los guardaparques FSC, donde The Nature Conservancy, USAID, y FSC realizaron un evento para mostrar nuestros dos vehículos nuevos donados por USAID. Pudimos comprar dos camionetas nuevas, un “pickup” y este camión más grande, que se usarán para la mobilización de los guardaparques cofanes y suministros. Cada mes se necesitan llevar y recoger los guardaparques cofanes en el campo de varios lugares en la provincia de Sucumbíos, lo que significa mucho desgaste para los vehículos. El promedio de vida para una camioneta es solamente cinco años!

Arriba se puede ver el Oficial del Desarrollo de Proyecto para USAID Ecuador Chris Saenger, Director Técnico y Coordinador de Guardaparques Roberto Aguinda, y el Presidente actual de FEINCE Robinson Yumbo.