In
1996, EarthWays signed an agreement with the rainforest community
of Playa de Oro, Ecuador, to develop the world's first margay
reserve; and in doing so, to help the community defend itself
against timber interests which already had clear-cut vast
tracts of tropical forests downriver.
This hunter-gatherer community (made up of 50 families, descendants
of African slaves shipwrecked off the coast of Ecuador some
400 years ago) needed no urging to protect the 10,000 hectares
of rainforest to which they hold collective title; after all,
the forest, along with the river, is their equivalent of a
supermarket - the source of almost all their food. Nor did
they need to be told about eco-tourism as a way to earn a
sustainable income from their forest while leaving it and
its wildlife intact. All they needed was a way to get the
necessary start-up funds while ensuring that facilities would
be developed in a low-impact, ecologically sound way, and
would remain under community control, so that eventual income
could be used for village improvement projects.
EarthWays, along with the Compton Foundation, Conservation
and Research Foundation, Feline Conservation Federation, and
private donors have provided seed money for this work. Under
the direction of a local person, village men recycled an abandoned
military barracks in the jungle into a visitors' center, and
planted a "food forest" of indigenous fruit trees.
A staff of village women took charge of the visitors' center,
and began cultivating an organic garden -- a most difficult
undertaking in the wet tropics!
At the outset, the entire village took a pledge to make its
10,000 hectares a "safe haven" for not only the
margay, but all species of neo-tropical felids native to the
region: jaguars, pumas, jaguarundis, ocelots, margays, and
oncillas. It is their forest, and they have assumed the responsibility
of protecting it.
In the years since the onset of this project, the villagers
have learned which other rare species in their forest are
internationally endangered. Most hunters have now switched
to "compassionate traps", whereby they take only
those animals needed to feed their families, while endangered
animals and ones they don't eat can be released unharmed.
The lodge has begun to receive a trickle of visitors, but
the reserve is not yet self-sustaining, and will likely require
support for another three or four years. To this end, we are
grateful for donations, which can be made to EarthWays Foundation,
20178 Rockport Way, Malibu, CA 90265. As EarthWays covers
all overhead, 100% of donor funds are used directly for the
project. EarthWays monitors the project on a regular basis,
and can report that the local manager, Mauro Caicedo, is meticulous
in maintaining accounts, and is scrupulously honest in his
handling of donor funds.
Although eco-tourists are welcome at the Playa de Oro Reserva
de Tigrillos, our long-term goal is to make the reserve a
centre for research related to exotic cats, rare birds, and
other endangered species in the unique El Choco rainforest.
In the meantime, the people of Playa de Oro are protecting
their forest, and permitting the reserve to function as a
release site for small wildcats rescued from illegal exotic
animal traffickers.
For additional details, and photos of our flagship species,
visit the website: www.webhome.idirect.com/~rosaj/index.html
Anyone wishing to visit the reserve should
visit the following website:
www.touchthejungle.org
info@earthways.org |
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