Sustainability in the Amazon ECUADOR ECUADOR Indigenous Peoples

Sustainability in the Amazon

ECUADOR

ECUADOR

Indigenous Peoples

Amazonian Indigenous Peoples

CHALLENGES: D ASSIMILATION D OUT-MIGRATION D ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

• Increased rural-to-urban migration • Growing urban poverty in Amazon • Disease, Prostitution, Drug abuse Boom Towns

Oil Extraction Ecuador: 500, 000+ barrels per day (200, 000+ to the US)* Oil = Largest Export (20 -25% of GDP) Big polluter: 1968 -1992: ca. 35 million gallons spilled (1700 sq. mil. contaminated)^ *CIA Factbook ^Sawyer 1997 Photo: Moises Saman

COMMUNITY RESPONSE D ORGANIZATION D NETWORKING D EDUCATION D TERRITORY

GLOBAL IDEAS, CHALLENGES • ECOLOGICAL DEBT • PAY-TO-PRESERVE • LEGAL ACTIONS

"Sustainability is not about business as usual; it should not be confused with incremental technical approaches to managing the status quo more efficiently nor with the “greening” of consumerism. It is a question of culture: of our sense of meaning and purpose as Americans and as human beings. As citizens of the Earth system and citizens of the world, we have inherited a culture that is ours to interpret and bequeath to future generations. Sustainability requires us to critically examine our cultural choices in light of the myriad interactions of art, science, politics and economics, not simply to study them in isolation. ” Tom Kelly, University of New Hampshire Chief Sustainability Officer