Dispatches
Maquipucuna Foundation – Ecuador (“Conservation in the Clouds” – Part I)
April 23, 2009
Maquipucuna is a great example of a lodge aiming for the triple bottom line and hitting it out of the ballpark. Maquipucuna’s story is based on luck and a big desire to do something to protect the rainforest. Originally, the goal for Rebeca Justicia and her husband was to purchase 100 hectares of land. Then they found smaller, 80 hectare plots for sale as part of a larger unit. The couple decided to raise $25,000 to purchase the entire 2,500 hectares up for sale. It was a tremendous amount of hard work and luck, but they managed to meet all of the right people in the nick of time and come up with the money.
Next the couple had to figure out what to do with their huge swath of rainforest. While the two were looking for grant money, one of their friends from grad school heard about their project and contacted Rebeca about doing research in the area. She knew it was a potential hot spot for species, but since little to no research had been done in the area, she really had no idea what she was in for.
When the friend arrived at Maquipucuna, Rebeca told her to get accommodations because they would be there in a few months with researchers to begin studying the area. The friend needed help, knowledge, resources, and experience to construct the buildings, but the community members were hesitant. They were concerned about this newbie coming into their area to buy up all of their land and were convinced that a local timber company would give them better jobs. However, slowly but surely, Justicia won local trust and hired community members for various jobs. In this way, Justicia found ways to support the community while protecting the rainforest.
Several of the community members had been working in ecotourism at Maquipucuna for years. One of the guides used to work in agriculture, sugar cane, and cattle farming, all of which are industries that destroy the rainforest. In this role, he felt guilty and didn’t make much money to support his family on. He now leads people around the forest daily and has gained pride in his work. He gets to be closer to his family rather than traveling all the time. He has also noticed that local attitudes towards the natural environment are changing for the better. He hopes ecotourism continues to grow because it offers people a chance to stay in and build their community rather than leave it for other locations to make money.
The lodge was built entirely out of local materials, mainly bamboo since it’s very strong and grows quickly. Guides, cooks, and a variety of other skilled workers were needed, so more community members were hired. The researchers treated all of the locals with respect and even included them in research, which went a long way in building solid relationships. After researchers proved that there were valuable resources near Maquipucuna, they carried out an environmental assessment to quantify threats to the area.
In their assessment, researchers discovered that the neighboring community of Yunguilla was stable, but residents were cutting the forest for charcoal. The Maquipucuna Foundation began to throw out a wide net of ideas for how to help the community. One important mission of the lodge from day one was to put guests in touch with the rainforest, but also provide for and build up the local community. The Maquipucuna staff thought about building a restaurant for all of the tourists, but there was not enough interest. They decided to build their own eco-lodge and allow community members to sell their wares to the lodge and its guests, erasing the need to cut the forest to sell charcoal.
Now Justicia has her sights set on bigger targets. The community of Esmerelda in the north, for example, is under heavy attack by timber companies who continue to buy thousands of hectares of virgin forests. This is the only place in the Pacific corridor that connects land running from the mangroves up to the snowcapped mountains. Researchers are just now beginning to understand the connection and influence between plants in the mangroves and those in the mountains. All of this logging means there is almost no connection left. Researchers proposed planting shade-grown coffee throughout this corridor to create some sort of connection between the lands. There is a group working in the area that has managed to secure 44,000 hectares and is developing a sustainability plan for the area. They are also producing cacao in this region–some of the best in the world.
Like many of the projects we visited, the key to success for Maquipucuna was (and still is) to put a dollar value on the forest. Reforestation alone is not profitable; few organizations will pay communities to plant trees. Maquipucuna is aware of this and looks to projects like shade-grown coffee and carbon credit sales to generate income. By mapping the biomass in the area, Maquipucuna can use this information as a baseline for generating carbon credits for continued preservation. Research also helps to put this place on the map and make politicians wary of just handing the rainforest over to timber and agriculture. Studies done in the area have shown that there are over 1,900 plant species in this area (17,000 in all of Ecuador) and ¼ of all bird species in Ecuador live here as well (370+). Working locally, activities like restoring orchids poached from the forest and creating organic gardens to feed guests and the community help to build partnerships between community members and the lodge.
Eco-research has also shown that pastureland needs intervention and reforestation because it can’t return to its previous jungle status without some help. One option is to restore the land to pastures of bamboo because its hearty, fast-growing nature is profitable enough to pay locals for carbon sequestration. Maquipucuna plans to continue working with communities to develop means of income: ecotourism, ecolodges, handicrafts, etc. By working together with the community, Maquipucuna not only strengthens its own venture, but also makes the entire rainforest strong, sustainable, and valuable to future generations.
