Course:CONS370/Projects/Between the rainforest and the world system: Factors affecting the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Waorani Indigenous People, Ecuador
In Ecuador, indigenous people represent around 7% of the total population in which there are thirteen different named nationalities (United Nations, 2015, p. 99). The Waorani or Huaorani Indigenous Peoples are one of the thirteen nationalities. Presently, they are composed of around 1500 - 2000 individuals (Bass et. al , 2010, pg. 2). They are unique as they were a uncontacted group of First Nations located in the Eastern Amazonian region of Ecuador until recently. This Indigenous People's territory has been declared the Yasuni National Forest, a protected reserve covering an area of over 9,820 km2 located between Napo and Curay Rivers (Bass et. al , 2010, pg. 2) .
Over the decades, there have been many factors that have resulted in hardship for the Waorani to try to hold on to their traditional ecological knowledge and to uphold their claim to their land. The constant pressure of having oil extraction projects and illegal logging occur in the Yasuni reserve threatens the existence of these Indigenous People, and thus also their ability to practise and pass on their traditional ecological knowledge (Bass et. al , 2010, pg. 2). These include loss of traditional language, decreased interactions between generations, westernized education and Western civilization.
Overview of Waorani People
- Region Overview
The Yasuni National Forest is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world, with record holding local scale (less than 100km2) species richness, especially for trees, amphibians and birds (Bass et. al, 2010, pg. 2). In 1989, Yasuni and much of the adjacent areas were designated UNESCO world heritage sites. It is also a site of some of the country’s largest oil reserves, called the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) which resides in an untouched section of the park (Bass et. al, 2010, pg. 2). The oil source has been a source of controversy, as the Waorani peoples and conservationists have fought to keep land intact against the government’s interest in oil. Illegal logging has also been extremely problematic (Bass et. al, 2010, pg. 3; Finer et. al, 2008, pg. 6).
- History of Waorani People and their way of Life
The Woarani, are a group of peoples identified as lowland rainforest horticulturalists and foragers. The first point of contact of the Waorani Peoples to individuals outside their ethnic group was in 1958. At that time, their population was below 500. They were the only known peoples to reside in an area of around 2,000km2, hence with a population density of around 0.025km2/person (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg. 1). They speak a unique language called Wao tededo.
- Families and Health
Female and males may hold different roles however, are seen as equal and there is no expectation for certain types of temperament (Erickson, 2003). This group has been identified as a highly inbred, homogeneous population. Arranged marriages such as among cousins were extremely common (Cardoso et. al, 2012; pg. 2). Prior to contact, the Woarani were considered healthy individuals with extremely pure bloodlines, before being exposed to infectious diseases by missionaries such as polio (Beckerman et al, 2009, pg. 2).
- Horticulture and Foraging
Their primary source of sustenance was from slash and burn cultivation of cassava or yuca, with peach palm, plantain and peanuts being a secondary crops (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg. 2). They hunted mainly through the form of blowgun and spear fishing. Woolly Monkeys, toucans, and peccaries (pig-like mammals) appeared to be the main sources of meat. Tepœ was a form of alcoholic drink (chicha) that was made from cooked, pre-masticated fermented yuca combined with water (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg. 2).
Presently, they rely on similar ways of living but have become more reliant on fishing as well as staples brought in from the modern world such as rice, oil, sugar and salt. In addition to blowguns, men now hunt with shotguns (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg. 2; Erickson, 2004, pg. 3).
- Subgroups and Warfare
Prior to contact, there were four hostile groups that were geographically separated - the Baiwaidi, Geketaidi, Piyemoidi, and Wepeidi. Death was largely caused by warfare among the groups. Presently they consist of two more subgroups known as Tagæidi, Tadominani (Erikson, 2013, pg.1).
After contact with missionaries, they are often met with discrimination in the media, once branded as the “Last Savages of Ecuador”. This is largely due to the killing of five missionaries when their plane crashed in Waorani land in 1956. In addition, they are associated with aggression and killings of other subgroup members over disputes over land, among other issues. In fact, one study stated that they may have the highest homicide rates known to a specific society (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg.2). For example, 42% of loss of life in the Waorani peoples was due to internal conflict (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg.2).
Land Rights, Claims and Asserting Land Tenure Security - History
Prior to missionary contact in the late 1950s, the Waorani lived freely on their territory with no constraints or hard title agreements, as this did not figure in their way of living. They held their property and territory in common, as they believed the members of Waorani had the right to control and reap from their territory. It was built on mutual trust, reciprocity and cultural understandings (Lu, 2001; pg. 5). Disputes were resolved through physical violence and aggression. When external groups such as Ecuadorian nationals, Quichua, and oil company employees crossed into Waorani territory, they were met with spears and violence (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg. 2) .
After the late 1950s, after much hostility between Waorani people and missionaries, they moved into settlements which resulted in a more peaceful approach to each other. Internal warfare ceased as each group of Waorani people were contacted peacefully by missionaries and began moving towards settlements. Presently, more than 2000 individuals are spread between 40 different villages, with higher density than previous of around >1 individual per km2 (Beckerman et. al, 2009, pg. 2). Some groups such as the Tagæidi, Tadominani still refuse contact with the outside world, and still only practice traditional ways of living (Beckerman et. al., pg. 2; Pappalardo, Marchi, Ferrarese, 2013; pg. 3) Other groups have moved towards more modern ways of living, including westernized ways of schooling and access to healthcare (Weckmüller, Barriocanal, Maneja & Boada, 2019).
Waorani have legal title over their land. In 1963, there was a protectorate (dependent territory that has been granted local autonomy and also some independence while being still part of Ecuador) of the core in the Yasuni Forest. Approximately 66,570 hectares of their estimated 2 million hectares of ancestral lands ceded by the Waorani people by the government of Ecuador [complete and clarify the meaning of this sentence] (Lu, 2001, pg.20).
In 1989, the Yasuni Forest in which much of the Waorani community resides became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Then in 1990, the government announced the legal title of an additional >600,000 hectares to the Waorani people under Ecuadorian Law. However, the land titles were not necessarily secure, as the government still owned rights to the oil reserves below their ancestral and traditional territory ( Lu, 2001, pg. 20; Kimerling, 2012, pg. 3). The government still had the right to grant concessions to private oil companies to access the oil, land and build infrastructure such as roads to aid in extraction. The Waorani had no control when natural gas operations would affect their way of life, what companies were involved and where in the territory these activities occurred (Lu, 2001, pg. 20).
In 1999, the Ecuadorian government declared a Zone within the Yasuni Reserve called Zona Intangible Tagaeri Taromenane (ZITT) meaning “Untouchable Zone”. This was meant to protect the territory of these two subgroups (Pappalardo, Marchi, Ferrarese, 2013; pg. 3).
Nearly a decade later, in 2007, an initiative to keep oil in the ground within Yasuni National Park was launched by the Ecuadorian Government called Yasuní-ITT Initiative. In return for $3.6 billion (half of the worth of the 1 billion barrels of oil in the ground) from the international community, the government would suspend oil extraction. The objective was to not only protect the area from oil extraction, but to also protect Indigenous territory and biodiversity of the park. However, after only 200 million was pledged by 2012, the initiative was ceased (Martin & Scholz, 2014, pg. 2 - 4).
Over the course of many decades, the Waorani lost many of their rights defined in the International Labour Organization Convention NO. 169 and which Ecuador signed (ILO, 1989) . These rights are defined as “inter alia, the rights of indigenous peoples to ownership and possession of land, recognition of their values and practices, making decision about their own priorities, customary law, social security and health, equality regarding contract and conditions of employment, and education at all levels” (ILO, 1989). This demonstrates the limits to transnational laws, and how it is difficult to enforce and monitor how these are to be followed. As McNeil stated, indigenous peoples should have the right to “territorial rights” which includes the autonomy to govern their land as well as what occurs on their property (McNeil, 2016; Pg 4). This right was not honoured in this case.
Recently in May 2019, over 200 Waorani Individuals marched to court in order to sue the government over land rights. They filed a lawsuit against the Ecuadorian government for lack of proper consultation before allowing for oil companies to come onto their territory to oil exploration (Riederer, 2019). Ecuadorian Ombudsman, a process of consultation conducted by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons which requires the government to adhere to free, prior and informed consent before any extraction projects occur [another unfinished sentence]. The Waorani claim that they were not consulted about the negative consequences these projects could have on their territory and culture. After two weeks of fighting, the judges of the provincial court suspended all plans to auction over 180,000 hectares of Waorani territory to oil companies (Amazon Frontlines, 2019) .
Administrative Arrangements
In general, historically, the Waorani (or Huaorani) have egalitarian relationships rather than hierarchical relationships. For example, individuals work together for the survival of their community as a whole. There is no leader in their community, and their community units are family. The evidence is that children in Waorani groups are self-sufficient, and they are not considered to be weak compared to adult Waorani. In other words, they do not recognize young people as “children” (Huaorani People of Ecuador: Culture & Waorani Language, 2017). This is because in the Waorani community, people do not track their age, so life expectancy is unknown (Huaorani People of Ecuador: Culture & Waorani Language, 2017). Moreover, families are the key part in their community. Men will take multiple wives; therefore, a typical family will contain around 10 to 35 people including older couples plus their unmarried children and married daughter and their children. They live in the same house together and sleep as well as eat together. They are so connected that when one person is sick, all others must follow the same diet and food restrictions to help that person get well.
Men and women have slightly different roles but have an equal role in decision making in families.
The Inner Interactions Within Waorani groups
Relatives of the Waorani, the Tagaeri and Taromenane, continue to live in voluntary isolation deep in the reserve, with no peaceful contact with the outside world (Finer et al., 2009). It is estimated that around 42% of Waorani deaths were attributable to internal group violence prior to missionary contact (Parellada, n.d.). Therefore, there is the highest known homicide rate of any indigenous society (Beckerman et al., 2009). The Waorani do not consider the Taromenane as their family, but Taromenane are still not a part of the larger national society either. For now, there is very little information about other groups like the Tagaeri (Finer et al., 2009). Cabodevilla and Berraondo in 2005 report that the Tagaeri are now likely extinct. The reason for that is the inter-clan battles with the Taromenane (Finer et al., 2009). Also, according to Rival, the Tagaeri live in hiding, in a deeper forest, and only make fire at night (Belaunde, 2008).
Relevant Inner and Outside Stakeholders
Mainly, the Shell Oil operation started in Waorani territory in 1942. Then, the Texaco and Gulf, both now part of Chevron operation, struck oil near Waorani territory in 1967.
(1) early oil exploration in the 1940s by Shell oil operation
(2) missionary work started in the 1950s
In 1956, the Huaorani became world infamous for spearing to death five North American evangelical missionaries from the U.S (Kimerling, n.d.), and 17% of Waorani deaths stemmed from conflicts with outsiders (Beckerman et al., 2009).
The first peaceful contact with outside world
In 1958, SIL/WBT missionaries convinced Dayuma, a Huaorani woman who was living as a slave on a hacienda near Huaorani territory, to return to the forest where she had lived as a child and help the missionary-linguists relocate her relatives into a permanent settlement, teach them to live as Christians, and translate the Bible into their native tongue (Kimerling, n.d.).
The conflict between oil company and the Waorani
(4) the oil boom started in the 1970s.
In 1972, Texaco Petroleum, the consortium, completed the construction of a 313-mile line pipeline in order to transport crude oil out of the Amazon region. however, for the Waorani people, their homeland was invaded by outsiders with unrelenting technology, military, and economic power. The outside consortium gained oil resources without sharing any benefits in a meaningful way. The cost for Waorani is huge including reduced territory (Kimerling, n.d.), water pollution and air noise (Pappalardo et al., 2013).
The conflict between oil company and the Waorani
The conflict between oil companies and the Waorani started in 1940. In that year, after Shell operations started oil extraction and built a base camp as well as several air strips in the core of Waorani territory. they killed several Shell workers in order to maintain control over their territory (Finer et al., 2009).
Some of the conflicts are unfolding on an international stage, such as those dealing with oil development in the national park (Finer et al., 2009).
Besides oil companies, there are numerous outside and inside stakeholders involved with Waorani Territory in the Yasuni Biosphere, including numerous organizations and government agencies. For simplicity see Table 1 for extensive list.
| Table 1: Stakeholders and Rights Holders of Yasuni National Park (MAE 2011a; MAE 2011c, Galvin, 1988; Arroyo & Swenson, 2017) | |
|---|---|
| Stakeholder | Objectives/Goals |
| Indigenous and Small Landowners | |
| Indigenous Peoples - Waorani, Kichwa, Shuar, Cofán, and Secoya | Defend land rights and self-determination as stated in the Ecuadorian constitution and international policies such as UNDRIP
|
| Small landowners - Campesino | Fight for security of land tenures and productive activities. These stakeholders are organized in associations and/or lobby municipals |
| Environmental Organizations | |
| National NGOs | Grupo Randi Randi and other technical NGOs aid with park staff through research and working with them to put on campaigns to hold government accountable |
| Academic Research Organizations | To research and implement conservation movements and initiatives, including having a research station within the park
Ex: University of Quito |
| International NGOs | To provide technical assistance to government and local organization that are trying to meet Yasuni National Park objectives
Ex: CARE International, Wildlife Conservation Society, Amazon Frontline |
| Miscellaneous (Other stakeholders) | |
| Ecuadorians | To value the Yasuni Forest and its aesthetics and ecosystems services and trust the government to manage it. |
| Global Community Members | To value tropical forests in the Amazon for ecosystem services and overall importance to the world. |
| Private Companies | |
| Oil Companies | Extract oil on Waorani land to generate revenue.
Ex: Texaco |
| Ecotourism Companies | Use the land as an ecotourism site to generate income and attract visitors to the park. |
| Government Agencies | |
| Ministry of Environment | Has immediate interest in satisfying the National Biodiversity Strategy through managing the Yasuni National Park and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. |
| Ministry of Hydrocarbons | Interest in natural gas within the territory and administering private oil concessions |
| Provincial and Municipal Governments | The Yasuni Forest resides within Pastaza, Orellana and Napo provinces and other municipalities. They have the responsibility to protect the area, but also promote development. |
Discussion
Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC) are greatly affected by global environmental change as they directly rely on their immediate environment for meeting basic livelihood needs (Reyes et al. 2019). This global environmental change is caused by a number of factors which can be both internal or external to their society. Since the interplay of internal and external factors is affecting traditional cultivation and forest resources, it subsequently causes the erosion of the knowledge related to those spheres (Kodirekkala, 2017). In a literature review research done by Shankar, it was found that 77% of papers that report the loss of Traditional Ecological Knowledge mentioned globalization, modernization, and market integration as the main drivers of change. The recording of this loss, however, did not find a uniform loss across all knowledge types. More losses were recorded in medicinal and ethnobotanical knowledge(Shankar et al., 2018).
In the study conducted by Shankar, the loss trend of ethnobotanical knowledge was mostly explained by the presence of formal Western education systems. The Western education systems contribute to weaken TEK, especially in relation to younger generations(Saynes et al 2013) by depriving children from daily interactions with plants and elders (Barreau et al 2016).The Western Education System has also shown resistance and inflexibility against Indigenous Peoples and non scientists in general(Huntington, 2000). As Huntington explained, resistance against TEK relies on more subtle arguments, questioning the reliability of TEK, or expressing concern about the “political correctness” of it replacing scientific research. This resistance may also be caused by concerns over funding priorities and disputes over management power. For example the Doñana National Park in 1969 with a ‘fortress conservation’ approach excluded local resource users from ecosystem management in the protected areas. Consequently, scientific knowledge progressively substituted TEK( Gómez and Gárcia, 2013).
As Weckmüller, Barriocanal, Maneja and Boada explained in their research, the medicinal plant knowledge of the Waorani people is mainly impacted by their socio-economic and demographic factors. They focused on comparing the knowledge of individuals and at community level. They discovered a positive correlation between elders (older individuals) and relative medicinal plant knowledge. By contrast, they found there to be a negative correlation with medicinal plant knowledge and years of schooling. Elders were generally responsible for passing down this knowledge through walks in the forest and through traditional hunting or gathering events. This highlights the importance of elders having a space to pass on their traditional knowledge to younger generations. Due to urbanization and westernized ways of teaching (in-class schooling), children tend to miss more of these opportunities (Weckmüller et al. 2019). The profound TEK of Waorani people can be studied through their oral history, which manifests in their interpretation of landscape ( Zurita et al. 2015). As a result of the western education system the Waorani are losing their oral history as they lose their languages. The official language of Ecuadorians is Spanish. Everything at school is taught in this language, hence making it hard for elders to transfer their knowledge to the next generations that can not speak their traditional language.
Globalization has brought fast changes to the Waorani community. Modern technologies like standardized health care and better infrastructure such as roads can result in a loss of traditional ecological knowledge as the adoption of modern technologies in scientifically rationalized production systems has reduced the reliance of local farmers on TEK, making them more dependent on exogenously produced technology and technical expertise and knowledge. (Gomez and Gárcia, 2013). Modern technologies like road constructions that facilitate oil extraction directly impact the forests resource of the Waorani Peoples as it further leads to deforestation and the loss of biodiversity, therefore hindering the ability of the land to facilitate ecological knowledge and learning (Gomez and Gárcia, 2013). Despite the location of several Waorani communities within Yasuní National Park, living downriver from oil operations has still drastically affected these communities and their water supply. And the Ecuadorian government has begun drilling for oil in Yasuní, threatening even the Waorani living under the supposed protection offered by the National Park. Traditional ecological management practices that promote species diversity will suffer as a result of oil projects. These lands are not only where the Waorani groups reside, but where they hunt wildlife and practice traditional ways of living (Finer et al. 2008).
As Shankar mentioned in his study, market exposure is one of the major drivers to the loss of TEK. In their study, they found that people who live more isolated from the market economy share more TEK than people who live in villages closer to towns (Reyes-Garcia et al. 2005). Economic shifts, from primary to secondary sectors ( Saynes et al. 2013) and the resulting rural exodus (Turner 2008), integration of tourism (Sujarwo et al. 2014), urbanization processes (Keller et al. 2006), deforestation and modern agricultural practices (Barreau et al 2006) were all shown to be deleterious to TEK.
In a study done on the Tsimane Peoples of lowland Bolivia, it was found that only market related activities that take people out of their environment and cultural context have a negative effect on their TEK. On the other hand, Market related activities that allow people to continue in their environmental and cultural context do not seem to have a negative effect on TEK (Reyes-Garcia et al. 2007). Therefore, in some cases, market integration processes result in the conservation of TEK, through the enhancement of local products or practices (Godoy et at 1998). In Ecuador, the integration of the market economy in shrimp fisheries resulted in the transmission and development of local ecological knowledge through its contribution to the production of a new body of skills-related knowledge. Similarly, the maintenance of TEK in relation to medicinal plants in the Tanga region, northeastern Tanzania, was shown to be supported as a result of the plants having a value in the regional medicinal market system (Mcmillen et al. , 2012). This transformation and hybridization of knowledge explains many pieces of literature are inconclusive in relation to whether or not market integration negatively impacts TEK (Shankar et al., 2018).
Assessment
Lu (2001) argues that the Waorani Peoples have a common property regime that mediates their relationship to forest resources. As part of the socialization process, the Waoroni implicitly learn about the types of items they can take freely and those for which permission must be asked. In a study done by Lu (2011), all Waorani that were interviewed agreed that they wouldn’t let any outsider tell them what to do in their territory. This clear consensus implies externally implied conservation policies are likely to fail. Therefore, the conservation of the Waorani Peoples TEK is crucial as sustainable resource management has to be developed internally.
Social control and conflict resolution prior to missionary contact was maintained through peer pressure and family ties (Yost 1991). This highly egalitarian and individualistic nature of the Waorani was and still is problematic as it makes societal control and conflict resolution difficult (Lu 2001). Due to the lack of a political structure or institutions, decision making is made at the individual or individual household level, hence allowing little coordination at larger scales and posing a threat to any local collective action to ensure sustainable resource management in the future. For example, a community member might cheat and make clandestine agreements with oil companies and loggers for individual gain in a culture which is highly individualistic. This exemplifies the “Tragedy of the commons” (Hardin 1968) in which an individual user receives the full utility of extraction of a shared resource while the cost of the degraded resource base is borne by all.
Though the Waorani have legal and intrinsic rights to their territory, the government of Ecuador retains all sub-surface rights. Consequently the government has issued licences to commercial companies to drill for oil within protected areas since 1992 (Wasserstrom et al. 2016). Since the Waorani’s territory falls under the Yasuni National Park that is rich in oil and gold, there have been constant conflicts between the government and the Waorani Community (Salvator et al. 2013). “The government tried to sell our lands to the oil companies without our permission. Our rainforest is our life. We decide what happens in our lands. We will never sell our rainforest to the oil companies”, said Nemonte Nenquimo, President of the Waorani Pastaza Organization (CONCONAWEP). She added, “Today, the courts recognized that the Waorani people, and all indigenous peoples have rights over our territories that must be respected. The government’s interests in oil is not more valuable than our rights, our forests, our lives”.
According to the Ecuadorian Law and the international law, governments are supposed to seek free prior and informed consent before extracting any resources in the Indigenous Peoples' territory in order to inform them about the negative effects of the project and get their consent ( Upasana 2013, pg. 165). In 2012, the government presented to the Waorani community a project of auctioning a part of their territory to international oil companies. Though the government said they got consent to auction these territories, the Waorani leaders argued that the consultation process undertaken in 2012 was only a series of presentations by the government about how drilling oil would lead to the development of their community. The government, however, did not talk about the negative effects this project would have on the environment (Lu 2017). According to the World Bank, oil has contributed an important part in the growth of the Ecuadorian economy from 2006 to 2014. Social programs such as education outreach that are funded largely from oil revenues have helped lower the poverty rate by 15 percent. However, this economy has caused water contamination and community displacement of the Waorani community. Not being informed about all these negative effects of oil drilling made the community sue three government bodies including the ministry of energy and non renewable natural resources, the secretary of hydrocarbons and the Ministry of Environment that allowed the drilling of oil in their territory. Many organizations — some of which are affected by this government’s project and some of which are just interested in human rights and conservation — have greatly supported the Waorani community's claim of their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent and right to self determination.
One affected organization includes the “Asociación de Mujeres Waorani de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (AMWAE)”, a Waorani women association that provides organisation development support through training women how to make traditional crafts, cacao cultivation, production of AMWAE own brand of chocolate and providing them with the markets. Other Associations include: the Ceibo’s Waorani Team that is part of a bigger non profit Ecuadorian Indigenous Alliance; Conconawep, the organisation that legally supports the Waorani Community and that is made of Waorani Indigenous People.
One of the interested stakeholders in this case is the Amazon Frontline, an international group of human rights lawyers, environmental activists, forestry specialists, environmental health scientists, filmmakers, journalists, anthropologists, and farmers. They live and work in the western Amazon to defend Indigenous Peoples' right to land, life and cultural survival in the amazon rainforest. They also greatly support the Waorani community win their legal case against the government’s oil drilling in their territories through advocacy using tools such as videos, digital campaigns, legal advocacy and helping them prepare legal strategies. They also train the Waorani how to use 21st century technology to map the biodiversity in their territories and their connection to it. “This victory is for my ancestors. It’s for our forest and future generations. And it’s for the whole world. We have shown that life is more important than oil and that united we can protect our way of life, the Amazon rainforest, and our planet from destruction.” said Nemonte Nenquimo, President of the Waorani Pastaza Organization (CONCONAWEP) after their victory against the Ecuadorian government in July, 2019.
Other interested organizations that have greatly helped with the modern education of the Waorani is the Repsol Foundation and the Pantificia Univesidad Catolica del Ecuador. However, as noted above, modern education is leading to the loss of their Traditional Ecological Knowledge even as it has helped the Waorani community win their case, using reliable and acceptable scientific resources in the courtroom.
Recommendations
It is clear that reconciliation in Ecuador has not yet been met, and the efforts made by the government are incredibly shallow. In order for the Waorani to be able to exist on their traditional territories, there needs to be more acknowledgement that allowing invasive projects like oil extraction and logging deeply affect their existence. There has been an extreme lack of proper consultation with Waorani peoples, regarding the use of land for resource extraction.
For decades, colonization has provoked land tenure conflicts and illegal hunting and logging and has threatened the existence of these communities. In the future, it is vital for the government and outside stakeholders to ensure they actively honour the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), a specific right that is recognized by the UNDRIP, which allows Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold consent to any projects or decisions that may affect their community or their territory (UNDRIP, 2016). This will hopefully, help in protecting their ability to pass on TEK on for many generations, and be able to practice and gain this knowledge from the Yasuni without disruption from invasive projects such as oil extractions.
In addition, NGOs or Ecuadorian government funding bilingual education with traditional language and teaching of Waorani principles can aid with the progress to protect TEK (Thornberry, 2013; pg. 31).
Lastly, approaching the Waorani with a proposal for management through Community Forestry projects could be advantageous in order to further development for Ecuadorian State as well as protecting Waorani territory. Community Forests involving indigenous and non-indigenous entities can provide a local platform for collaboration and participation in decision-making for natural resource allocation and development. These projects can help move towards broader community initiatives and can be key to working towards economic development, wellbeing of local indigenous peoples and support environmental management while respecting traditions of local people (Thornberry, 2013; pg. 34, 36). It is recommended that in order for indigenous autonomy to be successful, basic human rights, food security and property rights to land with non exploitative agreements with adequate consultation must occur (Lawler & Bullock, 2017, pg 117).
A funded liaison (by the exterior organization) can act as a contact person with the community and knowledge keepers. This should be prioritized for further projects and in order to support a community that may not have the allocated funds to have a dedicated community member to handle concessions. The liaison that works on behalf of both entities. In addition, ensure that the community understands that sharing traditional ecological knowledge with stakeholders can have benefits and risks (Lawler & Bullock, 2017, pg. 117-119; Frankel, 2017).
Furthermore, ensure policies and codes regarding any projects or proposals on the land are agreed and understood by all parties. Any agreements or interactions should be founded on reciprocity and conducted through building relationships. It is integral to listen to the needs, perspectives and knowledge of the Waorani peoples (Lawler & Bullock, 2017, pg. 117-119).
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