Participatory Conservation in the Condor Bioreserve,Ecuador

Abstract

The Condor Bioreserve (CBR) project seeks to promote community-based and participatory forms of conservation at four protected areas in Ecuador. This chapter provides a review of the academic and practitioner literature on participatory conservation, and explores the kinds of participation which occur in the CBR. Three assertions are central to the paper. First, the ways communities are represented by project documents and project planners condition the outcomes of participatory projects. Second, the intense focus of participatory approaches on the community level diverts attention from political and economic realities which constrain the ability of community members to actively conserve natural resources. And third, the chronological point at which communities and local people become involved in decision processes affects the kinds of participation in conservation projects; because problem definition is a key moment in which various participants establish basic assumptions about the nature of problems, the exclusion of local communities from the initial phases of program planning conditions the ways in which communities are likely to participate in conservation efforts. The paper addresses these issues by looking at the cases of management planning activities, the water fund (FONAG), extension efforts in the Sinangoé community, and the Local Participation in the Management of Protected Areas (PALOMAP) external review of participation in the CBR initiative.     

Biodiversity and Watershed Management in the Condor Bioreserve,Ecuador

Abstract

The Condor Bioreserve Watershed Protection Area is a project of The Nature Conservancy of Ecuador that seeks sustainable management of the Area for both biodiversity conservation and watershed production. The management problem is how to ensure that both these objectives are met while simultaneously meeting the diverse needs of the large and growing populations within and adjacent to the Area. For example, metropolitan Quito, a city of three million, depends on the Area's water. Conflict exists over the use of the watershed and the biodiversity within it. The chief threat is overusing biodiversity-destroying it by turning the watershed into a water factory for urban and agricultural uses. Incompatible interests, present competition and conflict must be ameliorated and foreseeable problems avoided in order to conserve biodiversity while meeting the needs of the human population. In this chapter the (1) Area's biodiversity and watershed issues are introduced, (2) the human context (social and decision processes that make up its management) are described, and (3) three common management options are explored to address problems. The first option is agreement on explicit goals, the second is obtaining and utilizing better science, and the third is using a practice-based approach. These options are evaluated for their potential to reduce conflict and realize goals. A practice-based approach is recommended because it makes the most of the limited human capacity to understand and address very complex problems. This approach can simultaneously address the biodiversity and watershed management challenge, inform and improve decision-making, and help find principles of successful ecosystem management. Unlike the two other management strategies, a practice-based approach incorporates moral, scientific, and practical considerations in management and policy decisions. A practice-based approach facilitates achievement of the dual goals of protecting biodiversity and watershed function and production.     

Options for Non-Timber Forest Product Management in the Condor Bioreserve,Ecuador

Abstract

This paper describes and evaluates the current role that non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and their users play on the conservation of the four protected areas-Reserva Ecológica Cayambe-Coca, Reserva Ecológica Antisana, Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, and Parque Nacional Sumaco-Napo Galeras-that comprise the Condor Bioreserve. The category non-timber forest product (also referred to as non-wood forest product) encompasses a myriad of resources that reside in forests and can be useful to people. Plants from which NTFPs are derived play essential roles in tropical forest ecosystem processes such as regeneration and nutrient cycling. In the Condor Bioreserve, certain species of such plants are commercially valuable while others are endangered. People are extracting these NTFPs from the Bioreserve, yet the magnitude and frequency of such extraction is unknown. This paper examines how the three groups of land users that have been identified by The Nature Conservancy-colonists, indigenous peoples, and hacienda owners-may utilize NTFPs. Understanding the role that these plants play in the lives of its collectors is imperative for designing effective strategies to alleviate pressure that extraction may place on the Condor Bioreserve ecosystems. Data on who harvests NTFPs, which plant parts they use, what quantities they harvest, and harvest frequency must be complemented by insight into how each group benefits from these activities. Moreover, an unbiased approach must examine how NTFP extraction may enhance certain ecosystems in addition to ways in which it may hurt Bioreserve resource ecosystems.