New Partnership to Protect Indigenous Lands in Ecuador

September 6, 2005

The Global Conservation Fund, the first major fund designed to mobilize resources to finance the creation, expansion and long-term management of protected areas, has awarded nearly half a million dollars over the next two years to The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International (CI) and Ecuador's Cofán Survival Foundation. The funds will be used to strengthen management by Cofán indigenous people of their ancestral lands in Cayambe Coca and Cofán-Bermejo Ecological Reserves.

These two reserves are part of Ecuador's 5.4 million-acre Condor Bioreserve. The project represents an important collaborative effort between the Conservancy and CI toward conservation and sustainable use of more than 617,000 acres of extremely biodiversity-rich tropical forests at the intersection of the Andes and the Amazon.

The project provides funding for the Cofán indigenous community's pioneering work as community park guards in their lands in the Cayambe Coca and Cofán-Bermejo reserves. These funds will serve to strengthen and maintain the park guards' programs, develop infrastructure and expand conservation protection to areas adjacent to the reserves in cooperation with neighboring communities.

Part of the project will be focused on strategic land acquisition to create a conservation corridor linking the two reserves. Also, the project will include an assessment to identify the best path for establishment of the corridor in terms of ecological characteristics, land tenure situations and land values.

“This gift from the Global Conservation Fund is an extraordinary step that demonstrates how conservation organizations and indigenous people can work together to achieve the common goal of conservation of biodiversity and traditional cultures,” said Aurelio Ramos, director of the Conservancy's Northern Tropical Andes Conservation Program.

“It represents an important opportunity not just to support the Cofán but also to develop long-term sustained financing that will make possible the permanent protection of these important areas for biodiversity conservation.”

For More Information:

• The Nature Conservancy in Ecuador
  The Nature Conservancy is working with Ecuador’s leading environmental organizations to protect the country’s stunning biological diversity — from the mainland to the Galápagos Islands.
• Places We Protect: Condor Bioreserve
  Named for the planet's largest flying bird and Ecuador's national symbol, the Condor Bioreserve is considered one of the highest conservation priorities worldwide.
• Online Field Guide: Condor Bioreserve
  From the Andes to the Amazon Basin, the Condor Bioreserve provides water to millions and refuge to its endangered namesake — the Andean condor, national symbol of Ecuador.
• How We Work: The Nature Conservancy and Indigenous Peoples
  For more than 50 years, The Nature Conservancy has depended upon partnerships with local communities to conserve some of the most biologically critical and threatened ecosystems on Earth.
• Our Partner: Conservation International (CI)
  The mission of Conservation International is to conserve the Earth's living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.
• Our Partner: Global Conservation Fund (GCF)
  The Global Conservation Fund is designed to quickly mobilize financial resources for the creation, expansion and long-term management of protected areas in the world's biodiversity hotspots, wilderness areas, and important marine regions.
• Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
  Read more about The Nature Conservancy's work to save the last great places on Earth.