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The Amazon Rainforest is a magical land, the Lungs of the World, as it is an immense forest. This is the space where the mythical Yasuní National Park is located. Yasuní means Sacred Land in the local Kichwa tongue, as it maintain a great biodiversity of flora and fauna. That’s why UNESCO named it as a Biosphere Reserve. On the same way, there are several native groups, living here for generations,like the Kichwa Añangu, who live in harmony with nature on their 21 400 hectares. They preserve cultural traditions, oral lore and ancestral knowledge.
However, this fragile environment has been threatened by extractive activities, as there is petroleum under its soil and its trees ilegally cut are a perfect resourse for some logging companies. Local people were hired there, with the offer of development, but having to leave their families. Eventually, all the family might abandon their land, leaving it susceptible to be destroyed.
Having seen this issue, the Añangu people decided, to work all together with tourism as the way obtain the resourses they need. Additionally they banned hunting, fishing and cutting down of trees on their land.
That is how the Napo Wildlife Center first and then the Napo Cultural Center were developed as two small ecolodges, where people from all around the world can learn and experience the magic of the Rainforest, while helping its people to protect it.
The core of the Añangu Community project is reinvestment. 100% of the net profits of the business income, fund Community needs. For example, the local School, which benefits children and youth from the Community and nearby settlements and where there is a free boarding program, financed with tourism income. Or the Health Center, where doctors offer permanent free attention, and Community covers their stay in the Community land. Additionally, solar panels have been set, a water purification system for the Community and to return water cleaned, after being used, among other projects.
Añangu have learnt they are able to protect their environment and to craft their own future. But more important, that extractive activities are not the only way to develop themselves and live happy.
Some activities included for all of our guests are:
– Forest Trails: To explore the great variety of wildlife such as insects, birds, reptiles and mammals. Some typical animals you may watch in the jungle are: anacondas and other snake species, spiders, giant armadillo, birds such as hoatzins, macaws, toucans, parakeets, parrots as well as monkeys, tapirs, ocelots, etc.
– Canopy Observation Tower: Get a close up view of the jungle and its diverse flora and fauna. This 36 meters observation tower was built just next to a huge tree and it offers you the best view of the Amazon Rainforest. Observe flocks of colorful birds flying and the magnificence of the trees, flowers and nature the Amazonia gives us.
– Canoe Riding: Explore the black waters of the Añangu Lake and the Napo River creeks on board of a motorized or paddle-canoe! In the river, creeks and lakes of the Amazon jungle we can find hundreds of different aquatic animals such as fish, caimans, turtles, piranhas and giant otters.
– Parrot Clay Licks: Are the most stunning nature spectacles to see in the Amazonia. These are natural banks of clay, where birds and different animals go to eat the mineral. This event starts early in the morning when hundreds of vibrantly colored birds visit the licks.
– Kuri Muyu Interpretation Center: Learn about the Kichwa Añangu community traditions and culture of the Napo Wildlife Center hosts. Women of the community will welcome you with typical dances, rituals, handcrafts food and drinks. Kuri Muyu means Golden Seed in Kichwa, and symbolizes the invaluable wisdom and strength within each seed of knowledge.
– Birding: More than 610 bird species inventoried within the Yasuni National Park, give the visitors the best experience in bird watching, an unforgettable adventure in the most biodiverse place on earth.
We are in South America, in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, the Añangu Kcihwa Community belongs to the city of El Coca, and it is located within the Yasuní National Park, declared a Biosphere Reverse by the UNESCO.
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| Category | Organisation |
| Type | Other |
| Membership type | Royal Penguin |
| Website | http://www.napowildlifecenter.com |
| Contact person | Miguel Andy |
| Email address | info@napowildlifecenter.com |
| Address |
Yánez Pinzón n26 131 y La Niña. Edificio Las Carabelas. Oficina 101 Ecuador |
© Linking Tourism & Conservation (LT&C) 2019
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