Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Deforestation tends to take place in rural areas with lower human popu-
lation densities, and industrial pollution in urban areas with higher
human population densities. Clearly, though, these are interrelated issues.
Returning to Guha's quote, which species get the attention of environ-
mental aid: plant and animal or human?
Environmental Organizations in Ecuador—the Broad View
Ecuador has had a long history of interacting with the international
community on environmental issues. Its environmental groups have
received sponsorship from international agents for over thirty years. In
1978, the United States Agency for International Development provided
support for Fundación Natura, Ecuador's fi rst environmental NGO.
Support from abroad has been a consistent aspect of the Ecuadorian
environmental sector. To understand how the transnational funding
has affected organizations over time, I conducted interviews with direc-
tors of environmental organizations, aid agencies, and foundations
in Quito during 2006 and 2007. I also conducted an organizational
survey.
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Being in the capital of Quito, you get a skewed sense of what the main
environmental issues are in Ecuador. This is because the majority of
groups with offi ces in the capital are relatively resource-rich organiza-
tions with a primary focus on conservation. These organizations are in
the capital because that is where donors meet with their benefi ciaries.
Smaller and less resourced groups are in the fi eld, doing their work,
largely unseen and unnoticed in Quito. For this reason, the organiza-
tional survey is particularly useful in a broad understanding of environ-
mental organizations —it makes visible the goals and work of organizations
that are not in Quito. There are approximately 200 organizations in
Ecuador with “environment” being their primary focus.
Over half of the groups responding to the survey are national-level
NGOs. Their interests are in issues that encompass all of Ecuador—for
example, national environmental policies. Local NGOs and international
NGOs are almost equal in proportion (17.5 and 15 percent respectively).
The majority (57 percent) of the environmental groups are located in the
capital (Quito), while the two other major cities (Guayaquil on the coast
and Cuenca in the sierra) contain over 11 percent of groups; the rest of
the groups are distributed throughout the country, including two groups
in the Galápagos and groups in the Amazon.
