ECUADOR - Land Tenure and Property Rights Portal

• Financing: Financial sustainability options should consider both the establishment of endowments tosupport certain activities as well as an increasing government commitment to allocate of funding forstrengthening territorial rights and promoting conservation.• Focus on higher-level outcomes: LTPR projects need to monitor progress toward higher-leveloutcomes (e.g., tenure security and natural resource management) as much as outputs (e.g., titles andmanagement plans). As we have seen in this assessment, attaining the latter does not necessarily lead tothe former.7.2 CONCLUSIONSThe findings of this rapid impact assessment indicate that certain progress has been made in Ecuador towardconsolidating indigenous territories and conserving biodiversity. The government’s supportive stance inrecent years toward indigenous rights and conservation has created opportunities for advancement. Throughland titles and co-management agreements, the state possesses the legal instruments to recognize indigenousnationalities’ rights to significant portions of Ecuador's rich biodiverse forests.Overall, the CAIMAN and PSUR projects have contributed to securing legal rights to indigenous territories,protecting territorial limits, strengthening the capacity of indigenous organizations to advocate for and defendterritorial rights, and assisting communities to better protect and manage their land. Within each project, theassessment has uncovered promising approaches that warrant future consideration. In the case of CAIMAN,territorial consolidation has shown the benefits of multiple, interconnecting LTPR interventions in achievingpositive and lasting outcomes. CAIMAN’s successful efforts with FEINCE have also demonstrated thepowerful potential of institutional strengthening. On the other hand, PSUR’s multi-sectoral approach revealsthe importance of working with indigenous nationalities in a manner that simultaneously addresses theirdifferent development needs.While the CAIMAN and PSUR projects contributed to attainment of lower-level outcomes (e.g., hectarestitled, in the case of PSUR, or kilometers demarcated, in the case of CAIMAN), the assessment findingssuggest that their contributions toward higher level outcomes associated with territorial integrity, productiveinvestment, and/or biodiversity conservation have in some instances been mixed and at times even negligible.In some cases, it may be that more time is needed before impact on these higher-level project objectives canbe realized (e.g., biodiversity conservation), or that continued support is needed if these impacts are tomaterialize and be sustained.Biodiversity conservation should be viewed as a long-term endeavor, as should preservation of the culturalheritage of Ecuador’s indigenous nationalities. While pressures against conserving both biodiversity andcultural heritage are enormous (loggers, miners, oil interests, the expansion of Western values, populationgrowth, poverty, etc.), the stakes are too great to let the difficult road ahead prevent continued efforts topreserve and conserve. The achievements of CAIMAN and PSUR should be complemented in the future byefforts to promote a strong legal foundation, active government monitoring and enforcement mechanisms,and decisive involvement from internal and external stakeholders in support of indigenous rights andbiodiversity conservation.In contrast to the policies promoting the expansion of the agricultural frontier during the 1950s and 1960s,future policies and political decisions should be guided by careful assessment of the environmentalconsequences and threats to resource sustainability before embarking on new ventures. For example, plans tobuild a road that would link the Trans Kutuku with the rest of the Province of Morona Santiago couldtransform the culture of Shuar communities living in the reserve and irreversibly damage the region’sbiodiversity.Continued support for strengthening the territorial rights of indigenous nationalities within Ecuador isrecommended. In light of the positive impacts sustained by past projects and lessons they have generated, it isINDIGENOUS TERRITORIAL RIGHTS IN ECUADOR: RAPID IMPACT ASSESSMENT 27