For most people, potato farming is not the first thing that comes to mind as a major threat to tropical forests. However, in Carchi province in Northern Ecuador, the last significant remnant of primary inter-Andean high altitude forest is rapidly being cleared to plant potatoes. At the Guandera Reserve and Biological Station, we run an integrated ecotourism and community extension project with the goal of conserving what forest remains while strengthening the economic base of the nearby population.

Land for the reserve was purchased with foreign donations, but the site now is self-supporting as an ecotourism destination. A 20-bed guesthouse receives visitors, most of whom stay for one month as volunteer interns working in reforestation, environmental education and alternative agriculture. Fees charged to interns and tourists cover operating expenses for the reserve including salaries for our small staff. Besides maintaining and running the reserve, we are actively seeking ways to lessen the threat posed by potato farming to surrounding privately held forest land.

Cash cropping of potatoes is the principle agricultural activity in the zone and is in direct conflict with the goal of conserving forest. Every year farmers cut hundreds of hectares to open fertile new fields for planting. However, soil nutrients are quickly depleted and new fields are opened to produce more cash income. In one year, a single hectare can generate a net income of more than $5000. Thus land values, even of uncut forest, are extremely high and it is difficult to convince farmers to leave forest lands intact.

Given the prohibitive cost of conserving more forest via direct land purchases, we've come to recognize that the support and collaboration of surrounding communities may be key to long-term conservation of the thousands of hectares that remain in private hands. Thus, three years ago, we began an environmental education and alternative agriculture program that fosters an appreciation of the value of the forest while working towards developing economic activities that do not involve clear-cutting.

The environmental education program stresses how the intact forest contributes to every-day life providing a source of clean fresh water and a diversity of useful plants, birds and insects. Realistically, the program probably functions most as a public relations tool, bringing the environmentalist vocabulary into the homes of local families while spreading the word about what we are doing up in the reserve.

With the local agricultural cooperative, we are striving to develop new and more sustainable products, especially fruit trees and bushes. Here the goal is to stabilize the agricultural economy (the potato market sometimes crashes) and develop sustainable crops that continue to produce, year after year, without opening new fields. We also work on community reforestation with the agricultural cooperative, planting trees near to farmers' homes and thus providing firewood without cutting forest.

Although we have only been working with local communities for three years, results have been positive. The most impressive change is the extent to which the environmentalist vocabulary has entered daily life. Many families, including the most prominent, talk about the need to conserve forest, to guarantee the presence of wildlands for their grandchildren, and to maintain a clean supply of water and air. Interest in planting native trees species close to the home has also been spurred and this year, aided by foreign donations, we are starting three community nurseries. The success of fruit crops as an alternative to potatoes will require more time before analyzing, but again interest has been heightened among farmers and some are experimenting independently without help from us or the agricultural cooperative.

As our projects mature, we have come to see more and more not just the necessity, but the reward of working with local communities. Slowly but surely, we are coming to receive affirmation and support from the very farmers who would profit from cutting forest. Over the long run, the threat from potato farming might be neutralized by new, forest-friendly opportunities in ecotourism and sustainable agriculture. If we can actually succeed in strengthening the economic base through these endeavors, we can insure the long-term preservation of the unique Guandera forest.

For more information about Guandera Reserve and Biological Station, contact Larry Frolich via email.

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