José's Birds
by Ellen Passmore

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In my travels to different destinations, experiencing different cultures, the immediate sights and the familiar sounds often fade over time, leaving behind memories that become separate beads of an ever-growing, multi-patterned necklace of experiences that have touched the depths of my being. Some of these experiences have shed light on one important question: "What does ecotourism really mean?"

Unfortunately for many travel professionals, ecotourism has simply become a new marketing term; for travellers, ecotourism is in danger of becoming a meaningless cliché.

One incident that brought this issue to light occurred while I was leading a women's tour to Ecuador. The experience gave meaning to the official name of my tour: "An Eco-Cultural Journey for Women."

Bellavista -- http://www.ecuadorexplorer.com/bellavista/ -- one of the ecolodges where we stayed, boasted a geodesic dome in the cloud forest, perched atop a lush, green mountain, with a wrap-around porch, symmetrically surrounded by hummingbird feeders, creating a hummingbird airport, where 11 species whiz around your head.

This lodge is a bird sanctuary, some of the proceeds going to buy local cloud forest acreage in order to preserve it from agricultural development and slash- and-burn farming.

Our group was returning from a peaceful walk deep amid the misty cloud forest: home to leaves the size of an elephant's ears that double as umbrellas against local rain showers, giant nettles, huge fern leaves, and bamboo. The frequent mists encourage the growth of a variety of hitchhiking epiphytes -- plants that grow on other plants -- soft moss, lichen, and exotic, rare orchids. This cloud forest boasts more than 170 species of rare and spectacular birds, a natural, eco-friendly aviary.

We had just spotted a Toucan, and were excitedly chatting with Richard, our guide and owner of the lodge, about our sightings on the walk, when a young couple approached our group. The young man, José, lived with his family on a small farm up the road. He showed us three small, exquisitely carved birds: a parrot, a toucan and a hummingbird. They were rough and unfinished, but powerful, capturing the energy and movement of the birds.

José asked if we thought they should be painted, and if we thought tourists would buy them. To a person, we pronounced his carvings beautiful and special just as they were. Three of my companions immediately asked to buy the few birds he showed us. José was amazed that we would be willing to pay him what we agreed they are worth. I asked him to make me more birds so that each woman in the group could have one.

José proceeded up the hill to his home, an incredulous, thrilled expression on his face. Richard appeared ready to weep. As we returned to the lodge, he shared the story that, for me, illuminates the true meaning of ecotourism:

He explained:

One of his most exciting moments was in 1995 when a group of birders visiting the lodge discovered a pair of Antpitta, large birds thought to have been extinct. The species has long legs and hops along the ground, eating bugs, while making a very distinctive call. The Antpitta discovery was so impressive that a TV crew came to tape it for a British documentary.

Around this time José, whose family provided milk to the lodge from their dairy cows, was bringing the milk through the short cut of hiking trails cleared in the forest for lodge guests. He killed one of the Antpitta for the family cooking pot.

When Richard discovered this, he was enraged. He confiscated the dead bird (which is now stuffed in a museum in Ecuador's capital, Quito), and a terrible screaming match ensued between Richard, José, and his father. Richard tried to explain to them how important it is to preserve the birds in the area, while they yelled about their need to eat, and their right to use the local wildlife.

The result was that Richard no longer bought their milk, and there was a chasm of misunderstanding among the two neighbors. Richard was heartsick and riddled with doubts about his anger and the impact it had on his relationship with his neighbors. It raised the huge question for him of how to balance the needs and rights of local indigenous people, while preserving the delicate and disappearing flora and fauna.

José now creates wooden birds instead of hunting them. Through the sale of one bird, he can earn what he would make in one day of farming. The development of tourism and the commitment to preserving the plants and wildlife created a shift for José's family. The result was that José's talent emerged, creating life through wood.

Today, he can benefit directly from sharing his talents with the tourists who come to the ecolodge. Today, there is one more family supporting the protection of the local birds.

It was a magical incident, embodied in the shape of a small wooden bird. It was a tiny testament to the power of ecotourism.

We may have forgotten the names of the trees and plants we saw in our walk through the Cloud Forest, but I doubt that any woman in that group will ever forget José and his birds.

For each of us, it is a cherished bead on the chain of our growing travel memory necklace.

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