The Achuar of Kapawi have teamed up with the San Francisco-based NGO Pachamama Alliance to respond to the threat of oil development on their lands by pursuing ecotourism as an economic alternative. Well aware of the experience of other indigenous groups in northern Ecuador, whose lands have been taken over in the name of oil development, the Achuar recognize the risks that environmental and cultural degradation will arrive with the drills. So they have established an ‘Ecolodge’, with the goal of providing revenue for the establishment of modern schools and healthcare centers, without in the process sacrificing their traditional lifestyle. Since crude oil is Ecuador’s largest export, the national government is constantly looking to expand production. They have recently turned to the southeastern portion of the Amazon, which is the Achuar homeland. The Kapawi Ecolodge is seen as a bulwark against this trend, but recently the project has seen a decline in visitors, due to the current global economic downturn.
