Currently we host a training program for Ecuadorian Para-Ecologists here at the Santa Lucía Reserve. It is a ten-day workshop run by our friends Inde Hundal and Mika Peck through their NGO - Ecoforensic .
The goal of the training is to enable members of various Ecuadorian communities to assist in wild-life monitoring programs and even set up and run those themselves.
The topics range widely from mammal, bird and amphibians across chemical water quality to macroinvertebrates and even ann introduction into accoustic monitoring methodologies is included.
There are eleven participants and we are happy that two representatives of the Santa Lucía communities are included.
The workshop offers a mixture of (sometimes not very simple) theory and practise sessions in several parts of the reserve.
Many of the participants come from communities which are currently under the threat of mining activities on their land which poses a threat to the intact environment and even the livelyhood in the affected communities. Knowledge of basic monitoring techniques can help the local population to collect data required to demonstrate the importance of intact eco-systems around their communities and to prevent actvities which harm those eco-systems in the future.