Sustainable tourism
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Since the discovery of oil in the 1960s, the Huaorani have been forced to deal with the presence of oil companies and other outsiders on the land they have called home for at least a thousand years.
Huaorani leader Moi Enomenga, made famous by articles in the New Yorker magazine and as the principle character in Joe Kane's Savages (1995), as well as in an NBC television documentary telling of his struggle to protect Huaorani land from oil companies, believes that ecotourism is a means by which his people can receive an income while maintaining the integrity of their culture and conserving their rainforest territory.
Moi is currently the president of the Ecotourism Association of Quehueri`ono, which represents five communities on the upper Shiripuno River, and has signed an agreement with Tropic to develop this joint venture for the next ten years.
Tropic - Journeys in Nature is an award-winning company committed to the principles of sustainability. Tropic has been supporting indigenous campaigns since its inception with income generated by ecotourism programs and with donations from former clients, foundations and other supporters. Tropic has developed a close relationship with the Huaorani beginning in 1994, and with its guidance, but under Huaorani control, has developed a joint venture to bring visitors to this remarkable territory. Tropic facilitates the sales, marketing and management of this venture until such time as the Huaorani choose and are able to take over all aspects of this conservation and tourism program.
In 1956, when the Huaorani became the last of Ecuador's indigenous peoples to be contacted by missionaries, their territory extended from the Napo River in the north to the Curaray River in the south. After the missionaries, the oil companies came looking for new reserves as the global demand for fossil fuels increased. The Huaorani live on top of one of Ecuador's largest oil deposits and since its discovery have been forced to deal with the presence of oil companies and other outsiders on the land they have called home for at least a thousand years.
Numbering approximately 2,400 individuals, the Huaorani maintain a largely traditional lifestyle living directly in and from the rainforest. Nowadays, their territory - some 680,000 ha/1.7 million acres -- is only about one third the size of their traditional land, and they have no oil or mineral rights. The first official Huaorani protectorate was created in 1983, and the current much larger Huaorani Ethnic Reserve was established in 1990, at which time they formed the Organización de Nacionalidad Huaorani de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (ONHAE) to defend their interests, and in 2007 changed the name to Nacionalidad Waorani del Ecuador (NAWE).
