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Intag, Ecuador
Touch
The Jungle is concentrating most of our efforts in the Intag
region of Ecuador currently. Intag is still located in the
Chocó Bio-region that we have worked for many years
in other communities. In this region, Coastal Rainforest transits
into Cloud Forests and the Tropical Andes, with ever changing
altitudes of the peaks and valleys across the Intag Zone.
The various communities of Intag have created eco-friendly
economic alternatives, such as organic coffee and other agricultural
products, handicrafts, alternative energy, and eco-tourism
in order to preserve their pristine environment as an alternative
against environmentally destructive activities such as mining.
The community spirit of the Intag residents who are devoted
to environmental efforts is what brought Touch The Jungle
to this area.
Our project wants to help support these communities that
are already working hard, on their own, against environmental
damaging activities such as mining, and they are determined
to live in harmony with their environment. Touch The Jungle
assists those communities in these eco-friendly projects in
various ways to help protect the habitat and wildlife. We
include visits to several locations in the Intag region during
our group tours to support the community ecotourism efforts.
We have built a wildlife rescue center located near Apuela
to assist injured or ill wildlife to return to the wild. We
assist farmers with nuisance wildlife that destroy crops or
steal chickens to help the farmers and wildlife live cooperatively.
In cooperation with a local grass-roots organization,
DECOIN, we are supporting other Intag Valley environmental
and education programs. These include establishing community
owned forest reserves, community watershed reserves, helping
build schools, and providing needed supplies to communities
that are working hard to preserve their forests, watersheds,
and wildlife. Let us introduce you to the beautiful vistas,
rare wildlife, and friendly people of the Intag Zone.
LOCATION
The Intag Zone is located in the Imbabura Province
of Northern Ecuador on the very biodiverse western slopes of
the Andes, about 2.5 hours from Otavalo. Intag is part of the
Chocó-Darien Western-Ecuadorian Biological region, which
is one of the ten biologically most important zones (hotspot)
in the world according to international organizations such as
the World Wildlife Fund and the World Bank.
POPULATION & CLIMATE
The
population of Intag is descended from settlers displaced at
the beginning of the 19th century from other parts of Ecuador
for populating these forested lands of Intag at a low cost.
Today, most citizens in the area are of mixed background, but
also includes African-Ecuadorians, and Indigenous peoples, all
devoted mainly to agriculture. A government survey showed that
the Intag region has a high percentage of indigenous peoples
(39%) and a high level of poverty (88%) making the region amongst
the poorest in Ecuador. This survey revealed that 72% of families
had average earnings of $100 per month or less. The local population
also have less access to education and health care than in other
areas, with 33% lacking any education. Apuela is one of seven
parishes of the Intag Zone, and the capitol of Intag, where
most residents from across Intag gather on Sundays for the marketplace
to sell and purchase their supplies for the week. The Intag
Zone is characterized mainly by its vast geographical size and
high population dispersal, accompanied by bad roads within and
to Intag. The difficult access to the area and bad roads causes
the isolation of many of its communities, especially in the
rainiest season. The seasons are not defined but can be described
as a very rainy season from February to May, a rainy season
from October to January and a dry season from June to September.
Intag Culture, a variety of flavors
NATURE & THE ENVIRONMENT
The Intag area is still rich in primary cloud forests, and
alive with rushing white-water streams and rivers, and small
towns and villages. Touch The Jungle's area of work encompasses
several life zones, including tropical rain forests, and cloud
forests. The cloud forests of the Intag area of Ecuador are
in the confluence of two of the world's hottest of the biological
hotspots; the Chocó-Darien Western Ecuadorian, and
the Tropical Andes biological Hotspots. Though only the sixth
of the largest hotspot, the Tropical Andes is considered the
single richest hotspot on the planet, containing approximately
15-17% of the world's plant species and nearly 20% of its
bird diversity (1,666). For both groups, the endemism is astonishingly
over 40%.
Significant portions of these mountain forests
are cloud forests. According to the United Nation's World Conservation
Center, cloud forests comprise only 2.5% of the world's tropical
forests, approximately 25% are found in the Andean region. For
these reasons, they are considered to be on top of the list
of threatened ecosystems. Furthermore, they play an oversized
role in the protection of water resources - with several of
the large world's cities relying on them for their drinking
water.
The Intag zone hosts a wide variety of threatened and endangered
fauna facing extinction including Andean (spectacled) Bears,
Jaguars, Pumas, Ocelots, Margays, Dwarf deer, Andean (mountain)
Tapir, Mantled Howler Monkey, the critically endangered Brown-headed
Spider Monkey, Pacaranas, Giant Antpitta, Plate-billed Mountain
Toucan, and the Cock of the Rock. There is a great diversity
of flora, especially orchids and native forest species such
as the Cascarilla, Arrayán, and Sisin.
Hundreds of Orchid species live in the coud forests of Intag,
Ecuador.
Many species of birds are endemic to this area, meaning they
do not exisit anywhere else on the planet.
THREATS
The
Intag Zone has been under direct threat for many years of large
scale copper mining operations. It has been a source of conflict
for many years as different foreign companies come into the
area to explore for resources and in many cases conduct illegal
mining in remote areas. DECOIN
is the main local organization in the area actively working
with communities, organizations, and local governments to stop
mining projects, which threatens the forests, rivers, communities
and the sustainable alternatives. Mining is firmly rejected
by most communities, as well as local governments count on the
firm and resolute support of the Cotacachi Municipal Government.
Copper mining would be situated in areas of pristine cloud forests,
bordering the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, arguable
one of the world's most biodiverse protected area. The environmental
impact study carried out by two Japanese overseas development
agencies, call for impacts to the reserve, for "massive
deforestation" (cited from the study), in addition to relocation
of four communities and contamination with heavy metals. DECOIN
identified 28 species of endangered mammals and birds whose
habitats would be impacted, including jaguars, spectacled bears,
pumas, ocelots and many others.
ECONOMIC AND SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES
The local organization, DECOIN,
made up entirely of Intag residents, was directly responsible
for Cotacachi County in the Intag Zone being declared the first
Ecological County in Latin America, in September 2000. This
measure, which is backed by a legally binding Municipal Ecological
Ordinance and which affects all of the 1800 square kilometers
of Cotacachi County, seeks to re orient development in the county
by backing real sustainable activities (organic farming, clean
industries, ecological, rural, and community tourism, etc.),
that benefit communities and the environment, and not industry.
It makes the conservation of native forests a priority. In addition,
the Ordinance also prohibits environmental destructive activities,
such as mining and industrial logging, and imposes strict environmental
controls on the flower industry. It encourages a change in attitude
towards the environment, through social and economic incentives,
and institutionalizes recycling, among many other measures.
One of the main objectives of the ordinance is the creation
of a model of sustainable development for Latin America, one
in which communities are empowered to conserve their natural
resources, and use them wisely. It is these types of measures
and efforts that Touch The Jungle supports in cooperation with
DECOIN and the
local communities. The natural resources and wildlife habitat
cannot be saved if the people who live there are not willing
to fight for it. We are proud to join with the determined Intag
residents in their ongoing struggle to save their natural habitats.
MISC VIDEOS ABOUT INTAG
Documentary of the Mining Fight in Junin, Intag: UNDER RICH
EARTH