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Otonga Strict Nature Reserve |
Environmental Education |
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Otonga Nature Reserve can be considered a pilot project of safeguard and enhancement of a stretch of Amazonian tropical forest in the Ecuadorian mountain chain of the Andes, including reforestation of the cleared or desert areas situated within it. Within this project, Ente Parchi Astigiani has suggested an action regarding both environmental safeguard and social and cultural enhancement. At the moment, the twinning project has been financed again and during the year, further hectares of forest for the Otonga Foundation have been purchased. |
Environmental Safeguard Actions |
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Within the purchase program of forest areas for the FUNDACIÓN OTONGA (recognized by the local Department of the Environment through the Ministerial Decree 93 of 28-V-1998), the purchase of a 5-hectare woodland in location Narjito, facing rio Esmeraldas, has been carried out through Father Onore and in favor of the Foundation itself; this woodland, now annexed to the Otonga Reserve, cost 2.500 American dollars, besides the registration costs, amounting to 753,68 $. In total, the purchase cost was of 3.253,68 $. |
Social and Cultural Enhancement Actions |
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| The incomes of the local population often derive mainly from the timber industry, and they are therefore part of the first ring of the chain: the felling and cutting of the woodlands. It is necessary to remember that, according to the current local economic prospects, great part of the woodland is dedicated to speculative purposes or to human settlements; in places which are still characterized by a pseudo-rural economy, the population is often attracted by new sources of income, although the latter can cause severe damages to the territory and local cultures. For this reason, a part of the project aims at maintaining and boosting forms of economy linked to traditional activities in order to bring together population and territory; in particular, the development of a particularly characteristic form of local craftsmanship, that is "vegetal ivory" sculpture, has been promoted. As a matter of fact, the area is characterized by the presence of a particular species of palm tree belonging to the genus Phytelephas, whose seed was processed in the past in order to obtain buttons which are extremely similar to ivory buttons. With the help of Father Onore, the processing of this material has become a real form of art, with engravings of small sculptures representing animals. Ente Parchi Astigiani has purchased a number of these sculptures, in particular ordering a parcel representing the logo of the Park Authority, to use as an exclusive gift offered by the Park Authority during public relations occasions. |
