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tinus2003
Member
| Joined: | Fri Dec 16th, 2005 |
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| Posts: | 1 |
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 08:44 pm |
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Ecuador is a rich country when it comes to biodiversity. Even though Ecuador is only the size of the state of Nevada, its biodiversity exceeds the one from the United States in total. According to the World Resource Institute Ecuador is one of the few countries on earth categorized as “megadiverse,” owing to the variety of its ecosystems and species.
Within three hours, you can drive in Ecuador from arctic tundra to sweltering beaches, from a temperate pine forest to a tropical wet forest, from a desert landscape to wetlands filled with mangroves. Ecuador is also the most ethnically diversified country in Latin America, a home to large Arab, Asian, Caucasian, African, and Jewish populations. In the Native Indian population, one can find tribes living in very primitive conditions, from those who were recently head shrinkers to the most entrepreneurial otavalenos, known around the globe for the quality of their textiles.
According to the Natura Foundation, an environmental non governmental organization
(NGO), approximately 50 percent of Ecuador is suffering from various degrees of soil erosion, and deforestation is 45 percent in the lowlands, 48 percent in the highlands, and 8 percent in the Amazon basin. Thousands of acres of forest disappear daily, despite laws that prohibit the cutting down of trees and the exportation of wood. It has been calculated that deforestation amounts to 680,000 acres per year (approximately 2,000 per day), and in less that forty years not a single forest will remain.
We can certainly say that biodiversity in Ecuador is decreasing rapidly. Several aspects of the society are to blame. Mainly the lack of enforcement of laws and the corruption by the government seem to have a great affect on the preservation of the countries most valuable treasure. The lack of insight in small communities who own large parts of natural habitat of animals is also a threat. Preservation of the biological diversity can be achieved by educating these communities and stimulating ecotourism, or sustainable development.
for more information: http://www.supportnetworkecuador.org
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aaron_brewer@hotmail.com
Member
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Posted: Thu Jan 26th, 2006 03:50 am |
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I visited a forestry operation in Ecuador in 1996. It was high in the mountains in Salinas de Guaranda. The trees were some sort of exotic pine that didn't produce much of a crop, but they did support some nice mushrooms, which did bring some money to an area where farmers still dig their potatoes with hand tools. In that town, the Catholic church had sponsered a city-wide coop that promoted several "sustainable" businesses. But their wool processing plant apparently killed their fishery. Not all progress is really progress.
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Fred Morgan
Sponsor
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Posted: Thu Jan 26th, 2006 01:23 pm |
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I honestly think that we are not able as a species to go directly at solutions. Having worked in software for 20+ years, I can tell you most software isn't designed, it evolves. The reason is that often it is too complicated for a person to understand or visualize.
So we write, and adjust.
Also, I find that people will figure because "their heart is right" that they don't have to do as thorough a job of analysis when it comes to trying to help. And sometimes there are sad consequences because of it.
For example, taking large tracks of land being used to provide a living for people and turning it into forest has an issue if not done correctly - what do the displaced people do for a living now?
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