Report from Ecuador at the end of 2024.
Mascha Kauka on a project trip: When I arrived in the capital Quito on October 22, I immediately had a full schedule and was lucky enough to meet up with old friends. The new Minister of Tourism is Mateo Estrella, formerly a professor of tourism at the University of Cuenca. We have been working together since 2008.
The meeting was therefore pleasant and successful. Several training courses are needed to develop community-based tourism in the new villages, which the Ministry of Tourism can provide, such as courses for professional tour guides. I presented the minister with a long wish list, which he immediately passed on to two state secretaries… We’ll see.
Then I flew to Cuenca, my favorite city in Ecuador. Minister Mateo Estrella joined me and accompanied me to meet the new rector of the university. She was prepared, so we simply extended the cooperation agreement that had been in place since 2008, and all I had to do was decide how many lecturers would come to our forest projects and when. That will probably be in February 2025.
Back in Quito, I had a long-planned and extremely productive meeting at the Catholic University of Quito (PUCE). I met the new director of the research department. Dr. Verónica Idrovo will lead the monitoring work in Kapawari and interest lecturers from other faculties in our projects. In March, she plans to visit the three villages in our project area with six colleagues.
The cooperation agreement between the Catholic University and the AMAZONICA Academy will be finalized in the new year.
Then I finally flew to the forest, to our project area with the Achuar people, for a whole four weeks straight.
Remember, be careful, check it.
First, I attended loooong community meetings in all three villages to discuss the current situation. After all, I had been there at the beginning of the year, terminally ill with dengue fever. The mood was one of relief and enthusiasm.
I checked the status of the construction work in each community. In Tuna and Kapawari, two education centers are being built for the indigenous forest population and for scientists from international universities. In Tsekuntsa, a primary school is being built, and dry-separation toilets are being installed for the children and future visitors.
The challenging carpentry work is being supervised by two old acquaintances: Galo Chuin from Yuwints (Shuar) and Agustín Tentets from Sharamentsa (Achuar). It’s wonderful to see former students (2000 to 2016) now becoming masters themselves!
I have already reported on the sacred lagoon in the Kapawari territory, which we surveyed in its entirety for the first time a year ago!
Since the lagoon and the surrounding forest are completely untouched and boast the greatest biodiversity, the region is threatened by hunters from the neighboring Kichwa tribe.
In order to protect the lagoon effectively and prepare for monitoring by scientists, I had to get to know the lagoon personally.
So, off to the lagoon! Apart from me, nine men took part in the expedition, young and old, a great group. Five kilometers of work with machetes through impassable mountain jungle and over three steep slopes.
Of course, I can’t walk that far with nerve paralysis in my right leg (medical accident in 2021). The Achuar carried me part of the way like hunting prey in a converted hammock.
I thoroughly inspected the Sacred Lagoon: the concept is in place. We will first set up night cameras, so that the hunters fall into the trap.
I used the last 10 days for various training activities: waste disposal, cooking courses, cultural preservation, and expansion of tourist destinations.
At the end of a trip through the forest, office work with Ivonne Naveda (local project manager and accountant) follows in our office in Puyo (capital of the province of Pastaza): mainly accounting, whereby the actual flight costs repeatedly exceed any planning. Thousands of euros.
As consolation, here is the current status of the forest area protected by our work: 135,000 hectares of intact rainforest in one piece!