Growing Diversity - Latin America

TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: Biodiversity production and conservation farms

AUTHOR: Pastaza Indigenous People's Organization- OPIP, TERRANUEVA

COUNTRY AND REGION: ECUADOR, Pastaza

ECOLOGICAL ZONE: Amazon region of Ecuador, tropical rainforest, highland jungle (600-1,200 m)

ABSTRACT

Most of the Kichwa indigenous communities have communal deeds to their territories (1,115,000 hectares), but the lack of individual deeds means these low-income groups are not eligible for credit and have little access to public benefits.

A major problem for families in communities on the settlement frontiers has been the reduction of what they call "purun" areas for leaving fields to fallow, caused by the growth of the local population and the arrival of more settlers. These pressures have led to exhaustion of soil, low crop yields, the loss of crop genetic diversity for basic staples, the loss of ancestral knowledge and the temptation to move into the communities' forest reserves, to exploit the timber resources.

The work proposed to the communities in the OPIP Strategic Plan includes activities to revitalize vegetable gardens (chacras), since for many years they have only grown three out of the nearly thirty species used in traditional Kichwa chacras. In addition to feeding the family, the chacra also produces and reproduces Kichwa culture, as a space of life in harmony for Amazon Indians, known in their own language as the "Sumak kausay".

The methodological guidelines we have proposed to revitalize local knowledge and to take action use the "knowledge dialog" ("Diálogo de Saberes”) at different levels: by families (community, federation) and by the project team. Extended families are key actors in all initiatives, particularly the women who lead the process of revitalizing the Kichwa chacra.

CONTACT: Click here for updated contact details

TERRANUEVA –Pastaza Program, Mallorca N 24 282 y Coruña  La Floresta  - Quito – ECUADOR – Tel: (593)2231321 – (531)2507865, E-mail: tnuova@uio.satnet.net