Abstract
Since the early 1980s investment has moved into the Nono-Tandayapa-Mindo-Los Bancos region of NW Ecuador largely through a rapid expansion of ecotourism facilities. Cows and pastures have been replaced with lodges and secondary growth forest. The creation of the Mindo-Nambillo Bosque Protector that was subsequently declared Birdlife International's first IBA (Important Bird Area) in South America, the completion of the tarmac Calacalí-Independencia Highway in 1981 connecting Quito, Ecuador's capital, to Mindo and then the coast, and the completion in 2002 of the New Trans-Andean pipeline Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados (OCP) seems to have facilitated this expansion. The new Calacalí-Independencia road cut transit times from Quito to Mindo from 6 to 8 h to 2 h while the new OCP pipeline access road, renamed the "Ecoruta Paseo del Quinde," provides access to the upper Choco endemic bird area. It appears that the OCP construction protests were a unifying force for good, motivating four distinct groups to challenge the building of the OCP oil pipeline; to try to develop ecological sound, sustainable development in Mindo, the Tandayapa Valley and Los Bancos; purchase conservation tracts; and initiate non-local investment in these three locations. Drawing on findings from unstructured interviews with NGO representatives, ecolodge owners, and key environmental activists in the region, this paper examines how Nono-Mindo-Tandayapa-Los Bancos region has become the most popular ecotourism destination in Northwest Ecuador.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 766-774 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Extractive Industries and Society |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2015 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Development
- Economic Geology
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Keywords
- Conservation
- Ecotourism
- Ecuador
- OCP
- Oil pipeline