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Established in late 2006, the Earthways-Kumanii
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Center is located in the
Chocó Rainforest Region of north west Ecuador, part of
the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot. This wildlife
rescue center is part of a larger effort, The Chocó Rainforest
Protection Project, through partnership of the Ecuador based nonprofit
Kumanii Foundation
and the US based nonprofit Earthways.
The mission of the Kumanii Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
Center is to recover the vitality of the forest and its ancestral
communities by healing and replenishing their fauna, with special
attention to species that are locally and globally threatened.
The wildlife center has the following components:
1) Rescue and rehabilitation of native wild animals that are injured,
ill, orphaned, or have been taken inappropriately into captivity;
2) Return of rehabilitated animals to the wild in safe areas where
they will not be hunted;
3) Environmental education in the local Chachi and Afro-Ecuadorian
communities about wildlife and the need to preserve their habitat;
4) Projects that provide sustainable, environmentally friendly
income and alternatives to hunting locally or globally threatened
species.
The wildlife center, licensed through Ecuador's Ministry of Environment,
is located on the grounds and areas adjacent to Kumanii Lodge,
which is situated on the banks of the Río Cayapas, in the
Chachi center of San Miguel, part of the buffer zone of the Cotacachi-Cayapas
Ecological Reserve, in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas.
 This
is the first center of its kind dedicated to assisting wildlife
in the entire West Coast of Ecuador. Whereas 100 years ago this
region was covered in virgin forest, today there are only a few
rare and precious pockets of green left. Although the Ecuadorian
government recognizes the value of preserving the forests in the
Western Amazon Region and the sylvan areas in the country's Central
Andean Corridor, its policy on the West Coast is strictly non-sustainable
extraction of natural resources and large-scale agricultural production.
Most Ecuadorians do not even recognize that there is still any
forest left in the Coastlands, and yet the Chocó alone
produces 80% of the country's annual timber harvest. Because of
the excessive deforestation in this area, all of the native wildlife
is in desperate need of assistance. Hundreds, if not thousands,
of species of wildlife are being displaced, orphaned, or injured
daily from the logging, mining, industrial agriculture and excessive
hunting in the region.
 As
in other areas of the country, it is common in the Coastlands
for people to indiscriminately remove whatever wildlife they happen
across in the jungle. They might use the animal for food, skin
it to sell the hide, or carry the live animal to town and sell
it to anyone willing to buy it as meat, or even a pet. The cause
of this behavior is the region's extreme poverty, as people are
simply trying to survive day to day any way they can and don't
have many other options. However, the rate at which they find
and take the animals is absolutely devastating to the wildlife
populations.
You can walk into a local restaurant in any number of towns today,
such as Borbón, and still order wild game directly from
the menu, despite the fact that nearly all of these species are
becoming increasingly rare. Members of our project consistently
find excessive amounts of endangered cat skins for sale all over
the country, out in the open, even in upscale shops in the capitol,
Quito. Such capture and sales are violation of International Law.
Technically, they are also illegal in Ecuador, but the local government
does not have the resources to enforce their wildlife laws. Nor
did they have a facility in this region where they could send
confiscated wildlife for proper care when they do enforce
the laws....until now.
While we are working diligently to educate the local people in
conserving their forests, teaching sustainable hunting, providing
alternative food sources and income, we must also try to maintain
wildlife populations in the meantime so that populations do not
fall so low that they cannot recover naturally. Many species are
endemic to this region, meaning they are not found anywhere else
in the world. If we do not help preserve the Chocò
wildlife, some species will be lost to the world forever!
As part of our wildlife education, we hope to encourage and appeal
to local people to willingly give any animals they may have illegally
in their possession, or bring any injured animals or orphaned
animals to the Earthways-Kumanii Wildlife Center for proper care
and eventual release back to the wild. Under no circumstances
will the Wildlife Center ever pay money for any animal, as we
do not want to encourage people to take animals from the forest
specifically to sell to us. We are confident that with a little
education and time, people will come to understand the importance
of helping the wildlife populations replenish themselves. Once
they have alternative food sources, understand endangered species,
and learn about sustainable hunting practices, and being provided
with alternative food sources, they will become very supportive
of the Wildlife Center's mission - after all, each one of them
can remember the former glory of the forest as part of their pride
and heritage. They have not depleted the area's natural resources
out of avarice or malice, but for poverty, extreme necessity,
and a lack of sufficient alternatives.
 As
we establish more protected areas of forest, and reach agreements
with more communities not to hunt the rehabilitated wildlife,
we will have access to larger areas of "safe zones"
for wildlife releases. Currently, we have the private Playa de
Oro Tigrillo Reserve, with 25,000 protected acres, as well as
the national Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, over half a
million acres, as safe zones for wildlife releases. Ecological
data surveys are done as resources permit to document the established
wildlife populations in these areas and help direct the best sites
for the release of specific species. The center strives to meet
or exceed IUCN guidelines for wildlife release. We heartily encourage
established researchers as well as university students to further
study this region and assist in the overall efforts of the Earthways-Kumanii
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.
Please read on to find out how you can help us help the wildlife!
Your support is greatly needed and appreciated!
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