This project in the high central sierra of
the Ecuadorian Andes is supported by the Canadian International
Development Agency and by Scarboro Missions (Toronto). Its goal is to
support the development efforts of the indigenous communities of
Pulingui San Pablo and Chorrera Mirador Alto. These two Puruhae
communities, comprising 543 people, at 4000 meters inhabit and have
legal possession of 4200 hectares of paramo on Mt. Chimborazo, a 6300
meter inactive volcano whose plant and wildlife is protected because of
its uniqueness.
In Ecuador there is no specific management model which protects both the ecology of park areas and which respects the rights and needs of local peoples who inhabit those areas. As a result of native pressures to the Ecuadorian State, in 1996, an agreement was signed by the Ministry of Environment and the Federation of 14 Puruhae communities (FOCIFCH) of the Chimborazo area whereby the State accepted its commitment to respect the native properties and to plan the Park's development with the participation of the local organizations. At the same time the organisations recognised the Ministry’s function a the entity responsible for mitigating the environmental impact of productive activities within Mt. Chimborazo's National Park.
In the two years since this agreement was signed a practical model of community management in the park area is emerging whereby the local peoples are the lead managers and the role of the Ministry is one of supporter and monitor. It is this alternative management model that the present project is supporting by strengthening two of the communities' capacity to manage their own development processes in the context of inhabiting Mt. Chimborazo National Park. The successful implementation of this new project, encompassing four interrelated initiatives (capacity training, community projects, conservation, empowerment of women), is having repercussions in the remaining twelve communities of the FOCIFCH as the experience gained here is being shared through the inter-community structures that already exist.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES:
The
56 families of Pulingui San Pablo and the 40 families of Chorrera
Mirador Alto are owners of lands which were declared a National Park by
the State in 1988. They are quichua-speaking Indians of Puruhae descent
who acquired their communal lands through the processes established by
the Agrarian Reform in 1972. Their parents and ancestors had worked
under the hacienda regimen (co) imposed by the Spanish colonisation
programs of the 18th Century and subsequently declared
illegal in 1968.
The cultural resistance of these people, together with the profound changes of the world economy have given place to a new national consciousness whereby there is a recognition of the diversity and multi-national composition of the Ecuadorian State.
Location of the Project:
The project activity is located in the Province of Chimborazo within Mt. Chimborazo's National Park. The area is within the jurisdiction of the County of Riobamba; Riobamba being the Provincial Capital which is some 30 kms. from the project's location. Riobamba is located in the Andean altiplano and is equally distant from the country's three major cities: Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT'S COMPONENTS
Capacity Building Workshops and On-Site Training:
The administrative capacity of the benefiting communities, while still weak, has improved over the past two years with the successful ejection of the initial project financed by CIDA in the construction of the Multi-Use Community Centre, installation of a community store, community bank and medical post, a weaver's co-operative, and training in the handling and improvement of sheep and small animals. In this time the two communities have jointly administered their own drinking water project, begun a primary school with 95 children, signed a contract for the electrification of the two communities and successfully negotiated with the Ministry of Public Works and a road construction company for damages to their properties.
The current project will strengthen the two communities abilities to manage their own projects through the implementation of:
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12 workshops and follow-up over the two year period for organisational capacity building in areas of leadership, human resources, planning, management, work ethics and evaluations.
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Train women in the art of weaving and how to manage a weaver's co-operative.
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12 workshops in eco-tourism in areas of intercultural and diversity related concepts to strengthen local identity, history, fiesta and rituals, inventory of places, courses in English, Spanish and Quichua. 20 young people are being trained and licensed as professional native guides through a local university sponsored program.
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12 Workshops on conservation, plant and wildlife, environmental awareness, organic gardens, and green house production.
Implementation of Productive Community Projects:
ALPACA : Characteristics of the Animals:
Fifty-two
animals are to be acquired between the ages of 12 and 18 months. Of
these, 4 will be male. With these animals two caravans will be created
of 26 alpacas, each community handling one. The communities are
contributing the pastureland and shepherding.
In 1992 the ministry re-introduced vicuña to the highest parts of the paramo in the reserve so there is a successful antecedent to this initiative. 100 vicuña were received from Chile, 100 from Peru and 77 from Bolivia. Today this original lot of 277 number 850. The Ministry has trained officers to support community efforts.
Shearing of Alpaca is done once a year in the dry season. The wool obtained will be classified and sold to the women's weavers' co-operatives in each community to be made into alpaca thread and then processed.. Alpaca wool fetches up to seven times the amount paid for sheep's wool. The animals are an attraction for tourists as they can be observed in their native habitat.
Development of a Women's Handicraft Cooperative in Chorrera Mirador Alto
The
women are being trained to spin, dye and weave artifacts from the wool
produced by their own sheep and alpaca. The goal is to mechanise the
process of spinning and weaving in order to supply the community with
wool products and then to make products for sale to the national and
international tourists that visit the place.
The gender focus will be incorporated into the three levels of training to be received with the goal of improving the women's economy, and particularly her position. The principal objective is to create conscience in both the women and men of the organisation, of the importance that women may participate equally in the training and production projects which generate income.
Irrigation Systems:
The Association of Chorrera Mirador Alto and Pulingui San Pablo have rights to springs water springs which can be used to irrigate 100 hectares of cultivable land which will help to avoid erosion on the hillsides.
Eco-Tourism:
Eco tourism is a potential growth area of employment and income for the young native people. The women's weaver's co-operative is also developing their designs and products to make their woollen products more attractive to the tourist. The communities have begun to serve plates of food typical to the region (cuy, mutton, barley and broad bean soup, quinua dishes and potatoes). The Community centres have begun to receive tourists (largely back packers) and are charging modest prices for modest accommodation. Horse back riding and trekking are two other areas being developed as part of these eco-tourism initiatives.
The new $3.5 million road financed by the Interamerican Bank and which runs through the two communities to the refugees of Mt. Chimborazo. greatly facilitating transportation from the provincial capital of Riobamba, some 35 kms away. The communities have a bus for tourists that can be chartered for excursions. Six interpretation trails related to Mt. Chimborazo are being built by the Ministry of Environment.
Increased Conservation Awareness and Practices:
Twelve workshops on
conservation, plant 
and
wildlife, environmental awareness, organic gardens, and green house
production are being implemented.
Reforestation
The planting of the seedlings will be done through community mingas and with the cooperation of interested volunteers. A total of 40 hectares of land will be forested, twenty in each community..
Twenty hectares of eroded land will be reseeded with paramo grass as a pilot project to demonstrate recovery and soil protection practices.
InterConnection
