A little bit
of info about the Napo Wildlife Centre which we learned from a fascinating
documentary.
Throughout the latter part
of the 20th Century, the impact of logging and oil extraction on the
traditional way of life for the indigenous people was enormous. Logging of course involves destroying acres
upon acres of prime forest and the laying of oil pipelines is extremely
invasive too. This coupled with the men
having to spend many days working miles away from their families just to earn a
living was destroying their lives. Some
communities accepted ridiculously low sums for their lands without thinking of
what would happen when the money ran out.
This Anangu
Community, part of the Kichwa Tribe, wanted to create a better life for
themselves and also preserve the wildlife and ancient forests around them. This meant turning their backs on hunting and
looking to eco tourism to sustain their families and in the late 1990s the idea
of the Napo Wildlife Centre was conceived.
Their first stumbling block was getting permission to use land within
the Yasuni National Park and what I found so impressive was that these were
relatively simple people, with little education but somehow they managed to get
over this hurdle, then find funding and support from numerous organisations,
clear the land and finally build everything from scratch. All materials had to take the same route from
the Napo River as we did; 1 ½ hours by canoe and the men had to learn new
skills; carpentry, electrics, plumbing etc.
Then once the lodge was ready they had to become chefs, chalet cleaners,
nature guides etc - it finally opened in
2003.
The Anangu’s
village is back next to the Napo River and it is several hundred strong. There is also a small accommodation block for
tourist visits but with less emphasis on the wildlife. The school has about 140 students, 40 odd of
which are children. The remainder are
students, adults, interns – anyone interested in learning and preserving the
pre-Spanish way of life.
It has worked
extremely well, the community is now financially self-sufficient, the men are
able to work locally and spend time with their families and the women grow
vegetables, make traditional items and things to sell to the tourists etc.
It
was funny watching the film to see Hugo, our indigenous guide, as a young man
working in the kitchens but it’s a perfect example of how they have adapted to
make such a success of this project.