Ecuador: Defending the last primary forest

Olindo Nastacuaz is helping his community in Ecuador to stand up to illegal logging, writes Progressio development worker, Michelle Lowe.

'I will never sign a deal with the logging companies. Even if they threaten to kill me I won't sign because I know that my people will suffer.'

So says Olindo Nastacuaz, president of the Federation of Ecuadorian Awá Centres (FCAE). He is a determined man: a man with a mission to defend the forests, culture and identity of his people, at all costs.

The Awá are an indigenous nationality who live on 116,000 hectares of their ancestral land in the foothills of the Andes in the northwest of Ecuador. The Awá traditionally live from hunting and gathering, fishing and agriculture, and have lived sustainably in the forest for generations. Their territory contains one of two remnants of primary forest remaining in the province of Esmeraldas after massive deforestation.

Olindo and the FCAE are trying to preserve their highly biodiverse forest but the pressures from loggers, plantation owners, roads, mines, and land speculators are now enormous. Progressio partner organisation Acción Ecológica has worked with them on advocacy initiatives and on making public their reports of illegal logging on their land.

The federation was established, Olindo explains, because the Awá wanted to unite to defend their territory and culture in response to their land being invaded and occupied by communities, companies and individuals who claimed it was uninhabited. They achieved legal recognition of their land in 1987 and this has since been reinforced by a series of legal decrees. However, as Olindo points out, this was far from being the end of their problems:

'Our territory is now surrounded by plantations. There is going to be more and more pressure for control of this primary forest. We are going to need to be really strong to be able to continue to resist.'

Like other communities dealing with illegal logging in Ecuador, the Awá have not found the government to be a useful ally in their struggle. Olindo says: 'It is the companies who have the most power and weight with government. The government doesn't do anything. They don't seem to be serious about tackling the problem at all.'

In addition to external pressures, the federation has to deal with internal ones. Some of the Awá, especially those who live in remote communities, believe that they should sign a deal with logging companies to get a road built through their land which they say would help reduce poverty and improve their quality of life. Others such as Olindo fear the cultural destruction and deforestation that might come with the road.

For now at least the forest is safe, as decisions on the community land have to be agreed by a majority of the 22 Awá centres representing the population of 3,500 - and the majority are still in favour of conserving the forest.

Olindo and the FCAE's challenge is to prevent their community succumbing to the loggers' deals by providing their people with other sustainable options for managing the land and earning a decent income. They have a project to sustainably manage their forest and harvest wood using light machinery and low impact techniques. They are also trying to acquire FSC certification to demonstrate that their wood is from a sustainably managed source. This process has however proved to be long and difficult. 

They are also studying options for eco-tourism and for carbon trading schemes and Olindo hopes that these projects combined with environmental education can save the forest: 'We have to have a constant campaign going out to speak to people and raise awareness about the environment and the impacts at a local level but also around the world.

'At the moment, the majority are still saying no to letting the loggers in. They know what is happening in the rest of the country and internationally. We have to fight to keep it that way. We are all guilty. We are damaging Mother Nature and we will all suffer the consequences if we don't act now.'

Progressio is working to tackle illegal logging by supporting partner organisations in developing countries where the wood is coming from and through lobbying work in the UK and Europe arguing for strict legislation to stop the purchase of illegally logged timber.

In Ecuador, for example, Progressio development worker Germán Luebert, a specialist in geo-referencing information systems, is working with Acción Ecológica to set up a database of maps and information to support advocacy and monitoring work and allow Acción Ecológica to denounce illegal activities at a national and international level.

Michelle Lowe is a Progressio development worker, working on advocacy and communications in Peru and Ecuador.