My friend Karlyn is currently at a biological research station in the rainforests of Ecuador, South America.
She says she just had a really intense discussion (mostly a one-way monologue in Spanish) with a Kichwa man (also spelled Quechua) who feels very strongly that the petroleum companies that are in Ecuador are the best thing that could have happened to the amazon and the indigenous cultures. He thinks that the president of Ecuador is amazing because he requires that now 50% of the money from petro has to go back to Ecuador instead of just 5%. This guy also said that NGOs, conservationists and volunteers are the real evil because they come in to "help" but have really just booted indigenous people off their land and are just in the business of making money. He thinks that what happens in the rainforest is his problem and that of the other people who live there. What happens to the biodiversity and everything related is their problem alone, not ours (westerners) so we should butt out. He also touched on some pretty universal issues like the inherent inequality in the rich-tourist-visits-poor-country paradigm.
WOW. What a can of worms discussion/issue to try and delve in to with a local in a foreign language!
Some of the points I gleaned from snippets of his rant involve:
1) Is the health of the Earth the responsibility of all humanity or of the geographic local inhabitants?
2) Rich tourist visits poor country paradigm: good or bad? right or wrong? guilt or pride? help or hinder?
3) Influence and involvement of NGO/conservationists/volunteers -- where do you draw boundaries? Is it the governments responsibility to allow or not allow certain organizations and tourist / business companies?
4) petroleum companies - good for amazon inhabitants/countries economy/rainforests?
Me, Cora and Karlyn have shared over email our perspectives, logic and opinions on his points and I wish there could be a discussion forum that I could hear what others, and experts, have to say about it. His argument obviously has many layers to it but is a very important rant that probably is shared by many around the world.
It also reminds of this article recently published in National Geographic Defenders of the Amazon, but this might be a little off the topic of what this Kichwa man was trying to get at.
Either way, I'm going to remember some of these discussion points and bring it up to the people I'll be staying with at the Tambopata Research Center. I found 1 paper (here is a link to a journal article) written by Dr. Brightsmith about eco-tourism relating to the Peruvian Tambopata area. They examine the costs and benefits of a three-way partnership among a conservation research project (The Tambopata Macaw Project), an ecotourism operator (Rainforest Expeditions), and a volunteer-recruiting NGO (the Earthwatch Institute).
I'd love to see any comments you readers have on the issues. Unfortunately, the Kichwa man isn't here to elaborate or explain his arguments!
Me, Cora and Karlyn have shared over email our perspectives, logic and opinions on his points and I wish there could be a discussion forum that I could hear what others, and experts, have to say about it. His argument obviously has many layers to it but is a very important rant that probably is shared by many around the world.
It also reminds of this article recently published in National Geographic Defenders of the Amazon, but this might be a little off the topic of what this Kichwa man was trying to get at.
Either way, I'm going to remember some of these discussion points and bring it up to the people I'll be staying with at the Tambopata Research Center. I found 1 paper (here is a link to a journal article) written by Dr. Brightsmith about eco-tourism relating to the Peruvian Tambopata area. They examine the costs and benefits of a three-way partnership among a conservation research project (The Tambopata Macaw Project), an ecotourism operator (Rainforest Expeditions), and a volunteer-recruiting NGO (the Earthwatch Institute).
I'd love to see any comments you readers have on the issues. Unfortunately, the Kichwa man isn't here to elaborate or explain his arguments!
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