Agroforestry in Ecuador

Hola Everyone,

We have started to take an interest in Ecuador’s rainforest issues, and hope to one day be able to make a contribution to reforestation efforts.

Just recently, on the 3^rd August, there was an announcement on Amazon Watch that Ecuador has signed the Yasuni-ITT deal with the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) to keep “oil in the soil, and CO2 out of the atmosphere”. The slogan that really grabbed me was to keep:

• Oil in the soil
  
• Coal in the hole
• Tar in the sand in the land.

The deal with UNDP, which has been three years in the making, finally spares a significant area of the Yasuni Park from oil drilling. Initial donor countries include Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, and Switzerland which have collectively committed an estimated US $1.5 billion of the US$3.6 billion that the Ecuadorian government seeks.

The plan will keep an estimated 410 million tons of C02 from reaching the atmosphere.

President Correa launched the Yasuni-ITT initiative in 2007, seeking international financial contributions equaling half of the country's forgone revenues if the government left Yasuni's oil reserve untouched. The proposal seeks to strike a balance between protecting the park and its indigenous inhabitants, while still generating some revenue for Ecuador, a country dependent on oil for 60 percent of its exports.

SOS Yasuni website has a great little video called "Yasuní-ITT. A Post-Oil Initiative" half way down the page. Also a video with Ecuadorian environmental activist Ivonne Yanez CLICK HERE

Covering nearly 2.5 million acres of primary tropical rainforest at the intersection of the Andes and the Amazon close to the equator, Yasuni is the ancestral territory of the Huaorani people, as well as two other indigenous tribes living in voluntary isolation, the Tagaeri and the Taromenane.

This is a very interesting article written about the isolated tribes of the Huaroni, Tagaeri and Taromenane people. CLICK HERE

The Huaorani People

As a result of its unique location, Yasuni is an area of extreme biodiversity, containing what are thought to be the greatest variety of tree and insect species anywhere on the planet. In just 2.5 acres, there are as many tree species as in all of the US and Canada combined.

The above bus was used in a campaign which brought the Indigenous Ecuadorean leader Emergildo Criollo from the Amazon rainforest to California to deliver 325,000+ letters urging Chevron's new CEO John Watson to clean up the oil giant's toxic legacy.

The photo below is of indigenous people from across Latin America leading over 1000 participants of the World Social Forum to form human banners, using their bodies to draw attention to the increasingly precarious situation of the Amazon rainforest.

For less isolated areas of the Amazon, there are opportunities in Ecuador to help reforest areas that have already been cleared. One group called Runa have been making headway by themselves. They promote the growing of Guayusa Tea, a native plant to the rainforest (see www.drinkruna.com). Runa have already established markets for the tea in the US, and have been recipients of substantial grants from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ecuadorian Government.

The Guayusa Tea is unusual because it is reported to have a higher caffeine content than coffee, yet it does not have the same negative effects. It is even reported to lower blood pressure and help regulate blood sugar levels.

Watch a video of the Runa Guayusa introduction - Click Here

We also believe that it is possible to grow biofuels in Ecuador and prove that there is a better alternative to drilling for fossil fuels. This is already being done in many other parts of the world. The trees plus other plants like Guayusa tea (and others) should be able to provide carbon neutral alternatives. Perhaps some other areas of Ecuador that are more arid might also be able to used to grow biofuels and other compatible crops and enterprises.

CaseStudy: A substantial 20,000 acre reforestation project in Colombia proves what can be done with a little bit of vision, and hard work.This is a great story that Gunter Pauli from ZERI (Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives) has documented in his article called “The ParadigmShifted: The Renaissance of the Rainforest”. This case study proves just what can be done to help rebuild the Amazon. This same group in Colombia have now been given approval to develop another 112,000 acres.

If you want to find out more about Carbon Credits, and how some people can now get into business selling this new technology please visit CarbonVentures

Below are a few photographs that I would like to share with you.

Ecuador, Amazon

Indigenous Leaders attending a meeting in the US

Brasilia, Brazil – James Cameron, Director of Avatar returned to Brazil this week accompanied by Avatar stars Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, and wife Suzy Amis Cameron to raise worldwide awareness about Brazilian indigenous communities' battle to stop the massive Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Amazon rainforest. Read more

Newsletters to follow shortly:

• Medical Tourism in Ecuador
  
• Health Insurance in Ecuador
• Alternative Cancer treatment in Ecuador

Until next I write

Chao for now

Dixie