Ecuador’s Kichwa mplements an innovative approach to rainforest conservation.

• In the face of multiple threats, a group of indigenous Amazonian Kichwa smallholder farmers has organized a cooperative, Ally Guayusa, for rainforest conservation.
• Through a unique combination of market-based approaches to conservation and traditional agroforestry practices, they are diversifying their sources of income while protecting the Amazon rainforest.
• Innovative partnerships with the Aliados Foundation and Lush Cosmetics’ Charity Pot have allowed this Kichwa community to expand its efforts.

Kichwa rainforest conservation efforts show that the need to protect global forests is clear and urgent. Indigenous populations, such as the Amazonian Kichwa, have recognized the need for action to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, deforestation, and their impacts on species. To this end, one Kichwa community is implementing innovative and sustainable agroforestry practices in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

An indigenous population of approximately 55,000, the Kichwa live in the Ecuadorian rainforest, which spans from the Andean foothills to the Amazonian lowlands. They are all too aware of the threats to their livelihoods and territory. This area covers more than 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land secured following the 1992 protest in Pastaza, where residents demanded their land rights.

The primary threats are the same as those elsewhere in the Amazon: forest fires, the introduction of cattle and roads, slash-and-burn agriculture for monoculture, such as palm oil, the encroachment of human settlements, as well as illegal logging, mining, and oil and gas extraction.

Kichwa Rainforest Conservation: A community-led response

In the face of these threats, a group of Kichwa smallholder farmers in the so-called 24 de Mayo community, near the town of Loreto in the province of Orellana, has organized.

The Kichwa are implementing innovative approaches to rainforest conservation on their community’s 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) through the indigenous-owned business Ally Guayusa and a unique set of partnerships.

“We are a farmer-owned cooperative accountable to the community to produce, harvest, process, and sell organic guayusa [Ilex guayusa] tea for local and international markets,” said Leonor Andy, the general manager of Ally Guayusa.

Leonor Andy, General Manager of Ally Guayusa, demonstrates the processing of guayusa leaves after drying —image by Matthew Wilburn King.

Ally Guayusa has recently established an innovative partnership with the Aliados Foundation and Lush Cosmetics Charity Pot to protect the Amazon and Kichwa livelihoods by diversifying sources of income from forest products, while also protecting the land on which the Kichwa depend.

Guayusa is a vital cash crop central to their efforts.

Organic guayusa tea, a relative of yerba mate, plays a significant role in Kichwa culture and, increasingly, in their efforts to conserve the forest.

“It has been used for generations by Kichwa communities,” Andy said. “Traditionally, it’s harvested directly from the forest and then boiled into a tea. It’s then consumed in the early morning before the sun comes up while sharing dreams and planning for the day.”

Guayusa, a wild species of holly tree that grows at elevations between 200 and 2,000 meters (660 and 6,600 feet), is also planted and cultivated by the Kichwa in traditional smallholder agroforestry farming systems. Ally Guayusa brings together 103 of 250 families in the community to turn their guayusa harvest into loose-leaf tea, which they then sell in local and global markets.

Amazonian Kichwa territory near the 24 de Mayo community, located in Loreto, Ecuador. Image by Matthew Wilburn King.

“These communities need access to cash to supplement their traditional lifestyles and to serve as a safety net during hard times,” said Wain Collen, executive director of Aliados Foundation and a 2014 Kinship Conservation Fellow. “They could get cash by logging their forest and planting non-native crops [e.g., palm oil], but that would undermine the health of the ecosystem, their home.

“Instead, we are working with them to cultivate native cash crops that are produced without degrading the forest, thereby conserving biodiversity and habitat for animals, too,” Collen said.

Tradition and increasing capacity

The Kichwa have traditionally practiced agroforestry in smallholder plots known as chakras, and these efforts build upon that experience.

Ally Guayusa has 40 hectares (99 acres) of rainforest and cultivates certified organic guayusa. It also collaborates with Aliados to experiment with new crops, successfully integrating timber species, fruit trees, Amazonian cinnamon, and lemongrass alongside guayusa trees. The goal is to contribute to the health of the forest while also providing a source of income, according to Collen.

With a donation of land from the 24 de Mayo community, a grant from Lush Cosmetics, and a zero-interest loan from Fundación Crisfe, the Kichwa now can produce up to 1,600 kilograms (3,500 pounds) of guayusa tea per month, according to Andy. This can generate up to $150,000 per year, 40% of which is allocated to the family farmers for payment for the tea they harvest; the remainder is dedicated to operating and managing the cooperative, Collen said.

Guayusa tree leaves used to make the tea. Image by Matthew Wilburn King.

Lush Cosmetics, in its efforts to support indigenous communities and environmental protection, has been a significant source of funding for Ally Guayusa.

“We funded the industrial sleeves, packagers, sealers, and other things to get quality control improvements,” said Tricia Stevens, head of charitable giving for Lush Cosmetics North America. “We also funded training, organic certification, financial business management, land management, and conservation workshops.”

The integration of the Kichwa’s traditional knowledge with more recent market-based approaches to conservation incentivizes sustainable agroforestry management over more destructive agricultural practices.

Maximizing resources

The combination of resources has increased the Kichwa’s capacity to cultivate much-needed cash crops, like guayusa, thereby increasing income and the regenerative capacity of the land.

In conversation with cooperative members, it was clear that these efforts are giving them hope. According to one farmer, Ricardo Huatatoca, selling guayusa has provided the means to support his family and pay for his children’s education.

“If we have a little bit of everything, coffee, rice, chocolate, chickens, and guayusa, then we can survive and not depend on only one product,” he said.

Packaged guayusa tea is ready for local and global markets—image by Matthew Wilburn King.

Another member of the cooperative, Nelson Grefa, said that guayusa “can lift us out of poverty, it can give our children a path to more businesses in the future.” He added that there is an essential positive environmental impact: “The plant produces leaves all year round and does not require much care. No trees are cut down for this plant; only the leaves are harvested, and the forest remains intact.”

The combination of market-based approaches to conservation, coupled with traditional agroforestry practices, not only protects Kichwa culture, livelihoods, and the ecological system upon which they depend but also has the added benefit of mitigating climate change by keeping forests intact, allowing them to continue sequestering carbon dioxide.

In addition to the environmental and financial benefits, the Kichwa’s approach also enables them to continue living and working on their native land. Their continued presence throughout the Kichwa territory “may provide an additional layer of protection for the 24 de Mayo community’s 6,000 hectares, particularly when it comes to illegal loggers, miners and poachers,” Collen said.

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Published in Mongabay Series: Global Forests

By Matthew Wilburn King

Original Publication Date: May 20, 2020

Citations:

Sawyer, S. (1997). The 1992 Indian mobilization in lowland Ecuador. Latin American Perspectives, 24(3), 65-82. doi:10.1177/0094582X9702400305

Jarrett, C., Cummins, I., & Logan-Hines, E. (2017) Adapting indigenous agroforestry systems for integrative landscape management and sustainable supply chain development in Napo, Ecuador. Advances in Agroforestry Integrating Landscapes: Agroforestry for Biodiversity Conservation and Food Sovereignty, 283-309. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-69371-2_12

Krause, T., & Ness, B. (2017). Energizing agroforestry: Ilex guayusa as an additional commodity to diversify Amazonian agroforestry systems. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 13(1), 191-203. doi:10.1080/21513732.2017.1303646