Chapter 6
In the early 2000’s, Ecuador sees a decline in transnational funding. Ecoimperialists and Ecodependents lose support with no money to fund them. With these organizations out of the picture, Ecoresisters and Ecoentrepreneurs have an opportunity to step up, showcasing the work they’ve been doing behind the scenes without the help of international funding.
This lesser transnational funding came from several problems within Ecuador and the countries funding them. The first issue was the cost of the work. It became harder for organizations to complete successful projects due to the large amounts of money required to do them. In 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11th. When the United States began to focus their money more on the middle east, Ecuador lost much of its funding. The final reason for the decline in funding had to do with the fact that many of the very large projects that had been started during the boom were now complete, or extremely close to it. At that point, the organizations had all they needed to finish the projects. When they were complete, many of these organizations shut down. Without extra money, Ecoimperialist and Ecodependent organizations that took off during the boom just couldn’t stay afloat anymore.
As a result of the decline in funding, Ecoimperialists and Ecodependents were forced to close altogether, change the angle at which they approached their goals, begin a new strategy for funding called proyectismo, or find a new way to generate constant income. Proyectismo allowed requests to be put in for certain projects that Ecoimperialists want completed by people who can donate toward the cause. This method gets things done, but turned into what sometime seemed like hiring environmental consultants. This obviously wasn’t the original goal of the organization, but they had to get funded somehow. The other method of finding new sources of constant income left the organizations handling things they never intended to, much like Proyectismo. Certain branches of an organization would often be contracted out to the management of cities. Others generate income by charging to visit or use their ecotourism locations, and as we know, Ecuador is rich in ecotourism hot-spots.
Through all of this, the book debates whether there was ever an environmental movement happening in Ecuador. First we must define what is meant by “movement”. If by “movement” you mean various groups of people all working towards some pillar of sustainability over a certain period of time, then I would say, yes, there was indeed an environmental movement in Ecuador. If you mean, instead, a movement is many groups working together to complete a common goal, then one may argue that there never was an environmental movement in Ecuador.
I feel that there was, simply due to the fact that there were always organizations that wanted to create sustainable development or conserve the environment or help the local economy. Something positive was always in the works, whether one group was working towards it or five groups were. That doesn’t really make a difference. Lewis does say that she feels there were certain times that movements were stronger than during other times. I would agree with that statement as well. It also depends on whether you look at that national level projects or the local projects. Somewhere in Ecuador during these years, someone was working towards bettering the country in one way or another.
While Ecoimperialists and Ecodependents were distracted with finding new income, Ecoresisters and Ecoentrepreneurs stepped up to fight the big issues. When a large copper deposit was found in Intag, it seemed that large mining corporations would come in, destroying the cloud forest and relocating many of the locals. Ecoresister groups, such as DECOIN, took this situation and turned it around for the better. Instead of the locals taking new jobs in the mining industry, they created coffee cooperatives and crafting groups that would bring in revenue to the community without the negative addition of the mine. They also educated the people so that conservation made sense to them. Instead of simply saying the land was valuable, they showed them, buying parts of mining land, thereby protecting the water-shed. Locals had clean water, and this was the incentive for them to protect the land. When water is at risk, they would do anything to stand up for it. Such projects make sense in order to educate the people and to keep them healthy.
After a healthy dose of chaos and scandal from former president, Lucio Gutierrez, Ecuador struggled to find its way. Then, with the election of current president, Rafael Correa, came the promise of hope for a better future for the people of Ecuador. Correa lead what he referred to as, “the citizen’s revolution”. He used many of the ideals of environmental organizations to hold the people’s interest. He even planned to make changes to the constitution with current environmental issues in mind. It seemed that Ecuador was getting the leader it so deserved after so much struggle in year’s past.
This lesser transnational funding came from several problems within Ecuador and the countries funding them. The first issue was the cost of the work. It became harder for organizations to complete successful projects due to the large amounts of money required to do them. In 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11th. When the United States began to focus their money more on the middle east, Ecuador lost much of its funding. The final reason for the decline in funding had to do with the fact that many of the very large projects that had been started during the boom were now complete, or extremely close to it. At that point, the organizations had all they needed to finish the projects. When they were complete, many of these organizations shut down. Without extra money, Ecoimperialist and Ecodependent organizations that took off during the boom just couldn’t stay afloat anymore.
As a result of the decline in funding, Ecoimperialists and Ecodependents were forced to close altogether, change the angle at which they approached their goals, begin a new strategy for funding called proyectismo, or find a new way to generate constant income. Proyectismo allowed requests to be put in for certain projects that Ecoimperialists want completed by people who can donate toward the cause. This method gets things done, but turned into what sometime seemed like hiring environmental consultants. This obviously wasn’t the original goal of the organization, but they had to get funded somehow. The other method of finding new sources of constant income left the organizations handling things they never intended to, much like Proyectismo. Certain branches of an organization would often be contracted out to the management of cities. Others generate income by charging to visit or use their ecotourism locations, and as we know, Ecuador is rich in ecotourism hot-spots.
Through all of this, the book debates whether there was ever an environmental movement happening in Ecuador. First we must define what is meant by “movement”. If by “movement” you mean various groups of people all working towards some pillar of sustainability over a certain period of time, then I would say, yes, there was indeed an environmental movement in Ecuador. If you mean, instead, a movement is many groups working together to complete a common goal, then one may argue that there never was an environmental movement in Ecuador.
I feel that there was, simply due to the fact that there were always organizations that wanted to create sustainable development or conserve the environment or help the local economy. Something positive was always in the works, whether one group was working towards it or five groups were. That doesn’t really make a difference. Lewis does say that she feels there were certain times that movements were stronger than during other times. I would agree with that statement as well. It also depends on whether you look at that national level projects or the local projects. Somewhere in Ecuador during these years, someone was working towards bettering the country in one way or another.
While Ecoimperialists and Ecodependents were distracted with finding new income, Ecoresisters and Ecoentrepreneurs stepped up to fight the big issues. When a large copper deposit was found in Intag, it seemed that large mining corporations would come in, destroying the cloud forest and relocating many of the locals. Ecoresister groups, such as DECOIN, took this situation and turned it around for the better. Instead of the locals taking new jobs in the mining industry, they created coffee cooperatives and crafting groups that would bring in revenue to the community without the negative addition of the mine. They also educated the people so that conservation made sense to them. Instead of simply saying the land was valuable, they showed them, buying parts of mining land, thereby protecting the water-shed. Locals had clean water, and this was the incentive for them to protect the land. When water is at risk, they would do anything to stand up for it. Such projects make sense in order to educate the people and to keep them healthy.
After a healthy dose of chaos and scandal from former president, Lucio Gutierrez, Ecuador struggled to find its way. Then, with the election of current president, Rafael Correa, came the promise of hope for a better future for the people of Ecuador. Correa lead what he referred to as, “the citizen’s revolution”. He used many of the ideals of environmental organizations to hold the people’s interest. He even planned to make changes to the constitution with current environmental issues in mind. It seemed that Ecuador was getting the leader it so deserved after so much struggle in year’s past.