Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For full descriptions of the programs and com-
munities involved in these and other CBE pro-
jects, including those in Yasuní National Park
and the Lower Río Napo region (below), read
Rolf Wesche and Andy Drumm's
Defending our
Rainforest: A Guide to Community-Based
Ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon
. This is
a joint venture between the University of
Ottowa, the British Embassy in Quito, Abya
Yala, The Ecotourism Society, PROBANA and
The Nature Conservancy.
Coca & the Lower
Río Napo Region
As with Cuyabeno, the region surrounding the Lower Río Napo offers
deep-jungle excursions into relatively untouched rainforest. Coca is
the main “town” in the region and the departure point through the
lower Napo. In addition to the land immediately surrounding the
Napo and its tributaries, access to places like Yasuní National Park is
also available fromhere. Various organized tours are offered, many of
which can be prearranged in Quito, in conjunction with ecolodges de-
scribed below and CBE projects, covered above.
The two main cultural groups in this region are the Quichua and the
Huaorani, with the eastern stretches of the Oriente still relatively
undeveloped. Although a fragile arrangement, these areas are pro-
tected by Ecuador's largest national park, Yasuní, as well as Quichua
and Huaorani protected territories and the very small Limoncocha
Biological Reserve. South and west of Yasuní National Park lies the
Huaorani Reserve, and to the north - stretching from west to the
southeast along the Río Napo - lies a large Quichua reserve. Both of
these offer the best chances of maintaining protection for the park
with buffer zones, as well as establishing and maintaining responsi-
ble CBE projects in this region of the Oriente.
Limoncocha Biological Reserve
The Limoncocha Biological Reserve, northeast of the Río Napo/Río
Jivino junction, is a couple of hours downriver from Coca by motor-
ized canoe. Declared a reserve in 1985 and surrounding its namesake
lagoon, Limoncocha is only a remnant of the area's once-beautiful
scenery and rich biology that, over the years, has been devastated by
seismic exploration and drilling, road development and immigration.
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