Reserva y Ecolodge Kapawi (Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve)
Reserva y Ecolodge Kapawi (Kapawi Ecolodge) is a highly successful community-based ecotourism initiative in the southeastern Ecuadorian Amazon that is wholly operated by local Achuar communities through the Complejo Ecoturistico Kapawi Sociedad Anonima, a limited company that employs 32 staff at the reserve and in two urban offices. Founded by a private tour operator in 1995, the enterprise was transferred in 2008 to a regional association of the Achuar Nation of Ecuador that comprises approximately 1,200 local Achuar residents.
The initiative has successfully combined traditional and modern governance systems to ensure an accountable and efficient enterprise that channels benefits directly to its member communities. As well as the 32 staff directly employed by the initiative, local handicrafts and food producers have benefitted from the tourism trade, while quarterly payments from the enterprise are reinvested in community development projects and contribute to a communal emergency fund.
Key Facts
Equator Prize Winner: 2010
Founded: 1995
Location: south-east Ecuadorian Amazon
Beneficiaries: 1200 Achuar people in 7 communities
Biodiversity: community-conserved Amazon rainforest
Case Study
Find other Winners' Case Studies in our E-Library
Equator Prize 2010
Latin America And The Caribbean
Biodiversity Conservation
Sustainable Forestry
Sustainable Energy
Contact Information
Andres Ordoñez
Fosh E7-38 y Reina Victoria
Edificio Reina Victoria of 1
Quito, Pichincha
593, Ecuador
Tel: 593 2 600 9333
agent1@kapawi.com
Share this page: