Southeast Asia - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 309

Here is what tourism means to a few people who live in some of the
destinations featured in this topic.

ECUADOR

We, the Huaorani, have been around for a long time. We arrived some thousand
years ago at our present location in the northeast of what is now Ecuador.
“We have lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers in an extensive territory bounded by
the Napo River in the north and the Curaray River in the south. Evangelical missionaries
made the fi rst contact with my family, and after them came the oil companies and
loggers. Our territory suffered: pollution became a problem, the forest was threatened
and our traditional lifestyle began to be undermined. In 1994 we teamed up with Andy
Drumm and his tour operator Tropic Journeys in Nature, and together started a joint
venture in order to work on a solution: community tourism.
“The result was a new form of ecologically friendly development sensitive to our
traditions. The venture began with the development of a trek called “Amazon Headwaters
with the Huaorani”. That programme proved a huge success, which bought further plans
- this time for a more permanent structure in the form of our new Huaorani Ecolodge.
Community members were trained and plans made to produce and sell crafts.
“The project now provides work and alternative income, as well as a reason to protect
the environment. As a bonus the profi ts pay for health and education projects to be
decided on by the women of the community. There is still a lot to be done: more training,
promotion and the strengthening of our tourism association are all crucial. But the
creation of a new forest reserve of some 300 square kilometres will provide a boost,
protecting the area's precious wildlife and providing further stimulus to tourism and
protection of our land.

Moi Enomenga is
president of the
Quehueri' ono
Association (see p.270).

INDIA

Interacting with travellers who visit my pottery gives me inspiration to
experiment with styles and designs in ways that I wouldn't have tried earlier.
This has brought wider recognition of my work, which for me and other craftsmen
has been the most important contribution of responsible tourism to our community.
And in turn this brought in more orders from curious travellers, locals and even small
resorts and restaurants who were trying to incorporate traditional values into their
businesses.

Gopalan is a potter
supported by The Blue
Yonder's tours of Kerala
(see p.348).