ECUADOR - Land Tenure and Property Rights Portal

• Government involvement: Government obligations around monitoring and enforcement need to befulfilled at local and national levels. Limited government investment negatively impacts the effectivenessand sustainability of project interventions. Government staff, at all levels, must become actively engagedin supporting the integrity of indigenous territories for this to become a reality. Strong national policiesand political will are fundamental, but if they are not backed up with action and funds, their aims willonly be partially realized at best. In order to successfully manage resources sustainably, government mustplay an active role in monitoring the resource management practices of indigenous communities andother stakeholders.• Relationship of livelihoods to conservation: In designing conservation programs, considerationshould be given to livelihood activities that offset theneed to rely on resource extraction to meet basic needs.Employment directly related to conservation functionssuch as park guards is particularly advantageous as itprovides income generation as well as instillsconservation ethics.• Income generation that respects circumstances and culture: Sustainable NRM requires creativeconsideration and implementation of income generating alternatives (e.g., endowments, agriculture,payment for environmental services, or small enterprise development) that respect indigenouscommunities’ priorities, values, and geographical constraints. To date, this has been difficult toaccomplish within Ecuador’s indigenous territories. USAID/Ecuador may wish to consider supporting astudy that harvests successful income generating strategies implemented by indigenous groups across theworld and their particular lessons. This study could specify how to adapt such strategies to suit theparticular circumstances confronted by Ecuador’s indigenous nationalities.• Multiple benefits of park guards: Park guards are a powerful and visible symbol of an indigenouscommunity’s control over territory. In addition to reducing encroachment, they provide multiple benefits,including providing employment opportunities to men and women, building leadership skills, monitoringand protecting biodiversity, and fostering feelings of pride and well-being among community members.• Job-based training: Training and capacity building should be linked to immediate practical application.When appropriate, it should be implemented through longer-term mentoring support (e.g., CAIMAN’sgrant manager working on a continual basis to transfer financial and administrative skills to FEINCE).Institutional Strengthening• Capacity to manage funds: Administrative and financial strengthening of indigenous organizations iscritical to enabling them to attract new funding to support sustainable LTPR and NRM activities.• Separate political and technical functions of indigenous representative entities: Organizationswhere political and technical functions are intertwined have difficulty maintaining focus and continuitywith respect to the technical work. Thus, projects may attain better results when the political andtechnical tasks associated with their objectives are maintained separately, either as independent units orentities.• Leadership stability matters: Leadership instability and associated staff turnover impedes the capacityof indigenous organizations to function on an effective and sustainable basis.Sustainability“The forest is rich but it isassociated with poverty.”–MOE official• Do not expect people to work for free: Indigenous organizations can not grow and succeed based onvolunteer labor alone. Without salaries, people are susceptible to corruption and cannot be expected todevote their full attention to the needs of the organization.26 INDIGENOUS TERRITORIAL RIGHTS IN ECUADOR: RAPID IMPACT ASSESSMENT