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ECUADOR 2001 Annual Report Contents

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Rainforest Protection

Protecting the rainforests through land acquisition is a fundamental part of Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity's conservation ethnobotany strategy. Working with indigenous communities, local government, schools, and private landowners, Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity aquires land to create national parks that serve as buffer zones around existing protected areas, and ethnobotanical gardens.

Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity Current Project

Amazanga Kicshuar Lushin River Community Land Conservation Project

The Amazanga Community is a group of Puyuc Runa "Cloud People" who speak the Quichua language, living in the outskirts of the jungle town of Puyo in the Amazonian Province of Pastaza. A vibrant people, they are relentless and self-determined in their struggle to protect their forest home and the ancestral traditions of their people. Their cherished belief is in the Sumac causai and Sumac allpa, "the search for the good life in their lands without sin." Amazanga has established a Foundation, Yachai Huanduc, dedicated to the preservation of the area and the strengthening of indigenous peoples' traditional values. Translated to English, Yachai Huanduc means "Wisdom of the Sacred Leaf."

Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity is working with the Amazanga Kicshuar Lushin River Community to protect unique rainforest wilderness in the headwater country of the Lushin River bordering the Sangay National Park in Pastaza Province of Amazonian Ecuador. The reserve will be a forest sanctuary and used for nature walks, and a site for traditional knowledge transmission and indigenous spirituality. The area is 95% covered in pre-mountain primary rainforest from approximately 600 - 1000 meters elevation above sea level, and is home to a wide array of wildlife and endangered species. Tapirs, parrots of many kinds, military macaws, kinkajous, olingos, and even pumas and jaguars make the area their home.

To learn more about the partnerships working together to make this project happen, visit:

• Living Bridges Foundation
• Tropical Rainforest Coalition