Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve - Ecotourism

Ecotourism

Ecotourism in the reserve was set off in 1986 with a in a first organized group of 16 visitors from the Netherlands. Prior to that, in the 1970s, Etnotours had been organizing tours focused on visiting indigenous people, but no records exist from that period and later all organized visitation had discontinued. When in the early eighties the new oil road was constructed and oil activities in the area had increased, settlers from the highlands were moving in and uncontrolled deforestation had been set off. The director of the area had requested and received an adviser of the government of the Netherlands, who advised to extend the area of about 150,000 ha eastward, to which the government of Ecuador decided to extended the park all the way to the border with Peru, increasing its size to more than 600,000 ha. He also advised the government to promote ecotourism in the area in order to create alternative livelihoods and demonstrate the importance of the area for the tourism sector of Ecuador as a whole. Given the isolation of the area at the time, visitors would need an overnight facility in order to visit the lakes area. Neotropic Turis was specially incorporated as a social responsibility corporation to promote conservation through ecotourism to Cuyabeno in an effort to help rescue the area by bringing in visitors. Originally visitors spent the night in the biological station of the Universidad Católica and in tents, until Neotropic Turis was granted a in 1989 to build and operate the Cuyabeno Lodge, the first ecolodge in the reserve.

From the beginning, Neotropic Turis involved the indigenous people both in the construction of the lodge and in the operation. It also organized the first training course for guides as well as for the indigenous people. The company is still the only operator with an official license from the Ministry of Environment. Since the mid nineties, other lodges were built, such as the Tapir Lodge and various other ecolodges have been created, some around the Cuyabeno Lake or Laguna Cuyabeno, but most downstream from the lake.

The original idea has turned out to have become a model of success: The current director of the reserve recently quoted that the current level of visitation is about 12,000 visitors per year, while most families of the Siona tribe benefit from ecotourism related economic activities. Moreover, Cuyabeno has become a prime ecotourism destination with significance for all of the tourism sector of Ecuador, as its reputation has started growing considerably over the past five years.

Safety is an important issue in the Cuyabeno Reserve, particularly since two women were briefly kidnapped in September 2012. Fortunately, thanks to immediate response from the Ecuadorian military with among other things some 275 troops and 3 search helicopters, the victims were quickly released unharmed. In response, the government has stationed more military and more policemen in the area. While it can never be guaranteed that other irregularities take place, the area is now better protected than ever before.