Below is a list of the communities that we are currently working with to promote sustainable development, in the Andean Sierra, the Amazon rain forest, and at the Pacific coast. Currently our main focus is on the communities of Bua de los Tsa'chila and Estero de Plátano. But programs in other communities are ongoing dependant upon the resources that we have available to carry out our work.
We are always happy to hear from individuals and groups who would like to volunteer alongside our staff and interns in making sustainable development happen.
Tsachila Communities of Santo Domingo: There are only 7 communities of the Tsachila culture, in the foothills of the
Andes towards the coast, about 4 hours from Quito. They are renowned as shamans
and healers. The Tsa'chila were a forest-dwelling people until fairly recently, and lived by hunting and fishing and cultivating small plots in the jungle. The population lives by farming cacao, yucca, plantains, malanga and coffee, although they do not have a long history as agriculturalists. Currently we are involved with the Tsa'chila communities of Los Naranjos, El Poste and Peripa. Our current projects.
Estero de Platano is a village by the
Pacific ocean in the province of Esmeraldas. Originally home to the Chachis culture, the population is now a mix of Chachis, mestizos and descendants of a slave ship that ran aground there in the 16th Century. . They live by
farming in the jungle and fishing in the ocean. This is one of the last
remaining places where the rain forest still reaches down to the sea, and represents an area of great biological diversity. The ocean off Estero de Plátano has recently been declared a marine reserve, and comprises an area that contains more biological diversity than the ocean around the Galapagos. Our current projects
Caimito is a small farming village on Cabo San Francisco in the province of Esmeraldas on the Pacific coast of Ecuador. We work there with biologist George Fletcher on projects aimed at promoting conservation and wise use of this region of incredible biological diversity. The area offshore has been declared a marine reserve, and although it only has 3% of the area of the Galapagos it contains greater biological diversity. The area is largely forest with small working farms and abandoned plots alongside small areas that have been bought by individuals keen to preserve and recuperate the forest.
Chilcapamba is a traditional sierra Kichwa village in the Andes. The population lives by farming - livestock and the cultivation of maize, onions, chochos, potatoes, barley, etc. Yanapuma sends volunteer groups there to assist in various community construction projects. Our current projects
Chichicorumi is a Kichwa community by the Rio Napo. Our project there is called Kamak Maki and involves the construcion oft an
ethnographic musuem, medicinal gardens, visitor accommodation and small open zoo of
local species. We also carry out small projects in the community with groups of international volunteers. Our current projects
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