The Cofán indigenous peoples have lived off the land in present-day Colombia and Ecuador for untold generations. Although many archaeological sites that might give clues to their ancestral traditions did not survive Spanish colonization, the Cofán have long fought to preserve their culture while conserving their natural surroundings and resources.

Much of what the modern world knows about Cofán history is reduced to the past fifty years, when the indigenous group began an active struggle to preserve one million acres of their ancestral lands in the lush forests between the Amazon and the Andes. Extensive oil exploration came to the region in the 1950s, and in the 1970s logging pressures also crowded into lands traditionally inhabited by the Cofán. Without title to their lands, the Cofán had no recourse to keep development out of their forests, or demand that companies clean up their oil spills and pipeline leaks.

A history of cooperation

The Conservancy, along with local partner Fundación Sobrevivencia Cofán and others, has collaborated in Ecuador since 1995 to support the Cofán by strengthening the Ecuadorian Indigenous Federation for Cofán People (FEINCE). Through its support of FEINCE, the Conservancy has supported Cofán initiatives for increased land access, land titles, land management, community-based park patrols, park monitoring systems and has also provided technical support. 

• Restoration of traditional lands. Of their one million acres of ancestral territory, the Cofán only had legal title to 35,000 acres until 2007 when, with the support of The Nature Conservancy and partners, the Ecuadorian government recognized the Cofán’s land titles rights over an additional 75,000 acres. The newly titled lands, known as the Río Cofanes Territory, lie just north of the Cayambe-Coca Biological Reserve along the Colombia-Ecuador border. 
  
  The Conservancy also backed FEINCE and the Cofán in their quest to create the 135,000-acre Cofan-Bermejo Ecological Reserve which now protects lands rich in flora and fauna, including an estimated 700 species of birds.
   
• Increased land management. The Cayambe-Coca and Cofán-Bermejo reserves protecting more than half-a-million acres were established on Cofán lands. The Conservancy, FEINCE, Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment and other partners have helped them develop co-management activities with protected areas authorities. In accordance with their vision of sustainable land-use within the reserves, the Cofán have moved forward in developing and implementing land management plans and community-based patrolling and monitoring systems.
   
• Cofán park rangers. With the support of the Conservancy and other international donors, the Cofán established a Cofán park ranger program to encourage community-based land patrols and monitoring. As part of the support provided, and the Conservancy and the Ministry of Environment financed the hiring of 54 Cofán park rangers and provided them with GPS mapping equipment and the necessary facilities. The reserves are being well-managed, illegal hunting and deforestation have been reduced, and the Cofán park rangers are earning income that is being used to improve community access to healthcare, schools, and tourism opportunities. 

A future of further collaboration

Fundación por la Sobrevivencia Cofán, with financing from the Global Conservation Fund that the Conservancy helped secure, is now working to create a forest corridor linking Cayambe-Coca Reserve, Cofán-Bermejo Reserve, and the Río Cofanes Territory. This would consolidate Cofán management of a significant portion of their ancestral lands and would help ensure the continued preservation of the region’s natural heritage.

At the same time, the Conservancy, Fundación para la Sobrevivencia Cofán, and the Global Conservation Fund are working to develop a business plan to assist the Cofán in financing their long-term conservation activities.
 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): © Diego Ochoa/TNC (Cofán indigenous lands); © Diego Ochoa/TNC (Don Guillermo, Cofán elder); © Greg Miller (San Rafael Falls)