Back in Quito
I arrived back in Quito yesterday. I’ll be in Ecuador for a week and a half. First I’m spending a few days in Quito meeting with an NGO to finish up discussions about the Antisana project. Then I’ll head out to the Ecuadorian Amazon (near the Columbian border … gulp!) to take a look at a potential project with the Cofan, an indigenous tribe.
Apparently the Cofan tribe needs help solidfying their property rights to maintain a large chunk of Amazonian forest. Their main concern is that mining companies have discovered gold and other mineral deposits in the area and they want to move in to extract. If the tribe is able to clarify their property rights, create a forest management plan, sell some carbon credits and demonstrate the importance of the watershed, they may be able to keep the forest safe.
The issue is that currently the Ecuadorian government of Rafael Correa is taking a very economic approach to these forests (google “Yasuni”). Normally, its great for us if a government understands that ecosystems provide economic returns, but not with this President. Correa is demanding that NGOs or conservationists pay the government a sum equal to amount that it would receive if the government was to extract the hydrocarbons and minerals from the ground. This is a HIGH price, even with the fall in oil prices. Therefore, groups like the Cofan are working hard to prove the economic activities of their forests to Correa in hopes that he won’t hand it over to the concessionaries. Our goal will be to initiate ecologically-friendly economic activity in the area to demonstrate the value of the ecosystem. Should be a really exciting project.
