SOUTH AMERICA (Sep/Oct 1999)

Kapawi Lodge, Ecuador
Kapawi Lodge, Ecuador This 20-room enclave on the shores of eastern Ecuador's remote Pastaza River sets a new standard for both local involvement and environmental sensitivity in eco-lodge development. Even before Kapawi's master plan was drawn up, the indigenous Achuar people provided vital information on the rivers and existing trails in this largely unmapped Amazonian region, which is accessible only by airplane. The Achuar's work was supplemented by extensive scientific research on local flora and fauna (including pink dolphins, rare river otters, and more than 300 bird species). Waterside bungalows contain private bathrooms with composting toilets, solar-heated showers, and sun-generated electricity. "It's completely sustainable," says Megan Epler Wood, the president of the Vermont-based Ecotourism Society who was so impressed with Kapawi that she wrote a case study about it. The current owner of the lodge, Ecuador's Canadros tour company, will eventually transfer its management to the Achuar. The tribe already derives nearly half its annual income from the project, and so is better able to resist corporate offers to develop oil wells or raise cattle. Nor is it apt to resort to the slash-and-burn agriculture that has long blighted the region.