The Ecuadorian province of Pastaza is literally blanketed by Amazonian rainforest and is a hymn to biodiversity. The area is home to no fewer than seven indigenous communities — Shuar, Achuar, Kichwa, Sapara, Andoa, Shiwiar and Waorani — and to a breathtaking variety of animal and plant species, including the jaguar (Panthera onca), the South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), and numerous species of amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates. Yet this area too, like the rest of the Amazon, is threatened by deforestation and uncontrolled infrastructure development. Fortunately, the entire region, or nearly all of it, has now been declared a protected area.

This treasure trove of biodiversity is now safe

After more than three years of work and negotiations between local governments and indigenous communities, the Provincial Council of Pastaza has officially established the Pastaza Ecological Area for Sustainable Development in the heart of the Ecuadorian region. The protected area extends over more than 2.5 million hectares and covers around 90 per cent of the surface area of the province of the same name.

Conservation and sustainable development

"It's official — the Pastaza Ecological Area for Sustainable Development is today a reality," declared Antonio Kubes, an official from the province of Pastaza. "It is a conservation and sustainable development zone, characterised by a vast area of humid tropical forest that has not yet been compromised by human activity."

An important ecological corridor

The protected area borders Yasuní National Park and therefore forms a valuable ecological corridor for wildlife, linking the two zones and enabling the conservation of numerous species. Among the objectives of the Pastaza Ecological Area for Sustainable Development are regulating the use of natural resources while protecting the forest and its biodiversity, and conserving water resources.

The indigenous communities' perfect stewardship of the forest

According to Jaime Toro, coordinator of the conservation programme Nature and Culture International, the newly established protected area is in a state of perfect conservation, thanks in no small part to the invaluable contribution of the indigenous tribes who inhabit it. These peoples, who are genuinely part of those ecosystems, are the best guardians of biodiversity and represent the most effective barrier against deforestation.

A gift to the world

According to Byron Swift, president of Nature and Culture International, the protected area will serve a dual purpose. On one hand, it will represent an opportunity for "sustainable development for people, from which local populations will be able to benefit; on the other, it will help to conserve precious global ecosystem services and therefore constitutes a gift to the world."