That’s better than the alternative: oil. Kapawi sits in a part of the country known as El Oriente—the East—believed to contain 4.5 billion barrels of oil. Energy companies, led by state-owned Petroecuador, started drilling almost 40 years ago, devastating the environment while failing to supply impoverished locals with jobs. Some communities even sabotaged oil installations to demand work and social services, compelling some oil companies to clean up their acts. But oil development is not the only threat; logging, smuggling and bored soldiers firing idly at the wildlife have further decimated the area. As a result, the Ecuadoran government has pledged to contain the oil companies while working to clean up the region. Part of the government’s strategy involves implementing a code of conduct for oil companies in sensitive areas, obliging them to restrict entry and require vaccinations against the viruses that have killed so many indigenous people.
Resorts like Kapawi are another part of the plan. The 12-year-old project is co-owned by the Achuar nation and a domestic tourism company, Canodros SA. It aims to attract some 1,500 well-heeled tourists each year for firsthand experience of Ecuador’s wilds—the most biodiverse in the world. “It’s an excellent model,” says Raúl García, under secretary of Tourism. “It will work as long as it maintains a strategic alliance with the tourism industry.” Kapawi has influenced similar projects in Ecuador—including the Napo Wildlife Center and Yachana Lodge—that provide jobs and training for locals. Tapir Lodge in the Cuyabeno wildlife preserve offers a haven in a volatile area just south of the border with Colombia.
