community programs

Communitiy Relations

As part of its organizational policy, the Jocotoco Foundation employs people from the communities neighboring the reserves, bringing permanent or temporary sources of employment to our neighbors. In 2010, the Foundation employed 18 forest guards, 13 reforestation workers and 12 visitor service staff at the four lodges, all of whom were people living locally near the reserves. For this reason we are maintaining good relations with nearby communities not just as an organization but also as a good neighbor who supports the local communities and seeks to be involved in the local activities. Examples of our work with local communities include:

The Foundation has signed agreements with the Municipalities of Piñas next to Buenaventura and Macará next to Jorupe for mutual cooperation and support. The Foundation helps protect important water resources and forests and offers its reserves for local tourism development and in return it receives various forms of support from the Municipalities. One example of how the Foundation can help local communities is the case of the rubbish dump near Piñas. The old waste dump was a tip into the river valley of the Quebrada Buenaventura at the side of the reserve. The Foundation gave design and financial assistance to the town of Piñas for the construction of the new facility which is of a high environmental quality, and includes effluent control. As a result, the municipality gave the Foundation an award for environmental services in 2001.

Within the framework of the second project funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, regular meetings were held with the local producer groups around Tapichalaca: cattle farmers, coffee producers and fruit growers. Information was provided to each group about organic certification standards and on how to improve their environmental performance and reduce their impact. A public opinion survey was also developed and distributed to 300 people to test changes in their attitudes towards the reserve as the project evolved, which showed that people’s understanding and appreciation towards the work of the Foundation has increased significantly. A workshop was organized for 19  persons in the local communities about visitors’ services, in particular about cooking and food hygiene to help them to increase their skills in the area of tourism. Several of these people are now employed by the Foundation at the Casa Simpson Lodge.

Environmental education

Palm Campaign:

Palm Sunday has been traditionally celebrated in the Andean communities with branches of native Wax Palms growing in wet mountain forests, which has led to the almost complete disappearance of these tall and elegant trees from many of their traditional sites. Various Parrot species, most notably the Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) and Golden-plumed Parakeet (Leptosittacus branickii) depend on these Palms for nesting holes and for food and their populations have diminished greatly as the trees have become scarcer. The former species is now almost extinct in Ecuador and the latter is considered Vulnerable globally. Alerted by the plight of these birds, various conservation organizations including the Jocotoco Foundation have initiated a public education campaign in 2004 to alert people to the effect their traditions have on the environment and threatened species and to promote the introduction of alternative plants for the Easter celebrations. The campaign have been a resounding success with many public events, talks and exhibitions organized every year throughout Ecuador with the involvement of schools and supported by the Church. The environmental police organizes patrols in the most sensitive areas to stop people from cutting down Palms, coinciding with the campaign.

The Jocotoco Foundation has been particularly active in the South of Ecuador, around the Buenaventura, Jorupe and Tapichalaca reserves. In 2010, a short video was produced to promote the campaign and was shown on various TV stations and the waiting rooms of several institutions in nearby towns. A poster was produced showing four of the threatened Parrots including the two species most affected by the destruction of Wax Palms and was widely distributed among the communities around the reserves. In 2011, a public opinion poll was organized with 459 questionnaires distributed among people in four towns around Tapichalaca reserve. Encouragingly, more than half of the people interviewed knew about the campaign and in Yangana and Palanda this reached 100%. About two-third of the people interviewed knew about the campaign from the television, showing the effectiveness and wide reach of this medium of communication. The majority of the people supported the objective of the campaign and was willing to use alternative ornamental plants to the Wax Palms. Almost half of the people recognized the Foundation is one of the leaders of the campaign in the South of Ecuador. All in all, the results are very encouraging and shows the importance of continuing with these activities well into the future to protect threatened trees and birds through changing people’s behavior.