Orchids — Orquideas

Update — Puma sighting!

Sunday September 14, a French tourist sighted a puma while hiking through the primary cloud forest between Cerro Pelado and Junin!  He was hiking alone, and came up on the puma in the middle of the trail.  They both remained still for a few minutes, watching each other.  The the Frenchman ran the other direction.  Puma tracks are often seen in these forests, but it is a rare event that a puma let a human see them.

Also, we are working on a new official website!  The address is http://www.junincloudforest.com.

History of the Mining Conflict – Historia del Conflicto Minero

Intag’s struggle with mining began in the small town of Junín in the early 1990s when Bishimetals, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, began exploring for metallic minerals in its surrounding primary cloud forest. With help from the World Bank’s Proyecto de Desarrollo Minero y Control Ambiental (PRODEMINCA), Bishimetals discovered that mineral deposits in the Toisan mountain ranges of Intag could produce over two million tons of pure copper—the US consumes about 2.3 million tons of copper per year. All the while, the mining activity was polluting the Junín River, which residents depend on for their livelihood. Outraged, the residents of Junín when ignored by their government burned down the wood structures at the Bishimetals camp.

Since then, the residents of Intag came to learn that the impact of a large-scale open-pit copper mine in Junín would not only impact the local population, but would “relocate” at least four communities that reside within the proposed mine boundaries, contaminate waters with lead, arsenic, cadmium and chrome, begin a process of local desertification that would decimate local populations of endangered animals, and also create a mining town which would might bring astonishing rates of delinquency, alcoholism, and prostitution to Intag.

Between the years of 1997 to 2002, Junin and the larger region of Intag was able to organize without the immediate threat of a mining company; various organizations were created, including the environmental watch-group Defensa Ecologica de Intag (DECOIN, www.decoin.org), as well as organic coffee-growers cooperatives, artisan groups, and eco-tourism associations. In 2002, the Canadian-based mini-share holder company Ascendant Copper Corporation purchased the mining concessions and made various unethical and illegal attempts to overthrow local mining opposition, which culminated in December of 2006 when they hired paramilitary to shoot at and pepper spray residents of Junín. Fortunately, Ecuador’s Ministry of Mines was not impressed with Ascendant Copper’s human rights abuses, and in January of 2008 they revoked their two largest mining concessions in Junin.

The mining companies have virtually disappeared from the scene in Junin since January of 2008, so now is the perfect time to visit and learn more from talking face-to-face with the people that have lived through the mining conflict.

Visit these links for more information:

Intag’s Independent Newspaper   http://www.intagnewspaper.org

Defensa y Conservacion de Intag    http://www.decoin.org/

CEDENMA’s Site on Mining  http://www.infomineria.org

The Canary Institute/Intag Solidarity Network   http://canaryinstitute.wordpress.org

Amenities – Comodidades

Our Cabañas are made of ecologically sustainable bamboo and have a capacity of 25 people in 5 rooms.  There is also a small separate cabin for two people.  Amenities include a library, office w/ computer but no internet, shared bathroom with indoor toilet and shower, meeting space, and electricity (just one year old!).   The top floor offers a beautiful view of the forest canopy perfect for bird-watching, and hammocks for kicking back with a good book.   Short trails starting from the Cabañas offer moments of solitude, and our Orchidarium offers a close look at our most unique plants.  We invite to you visit our community and help support the effort to conserve Ecuador’s biodiversity and keep out large-scale mining.

Las Cabañas están hechas de bambú, una materia sostenible, y tienen una capacidad de 24 personas en 6 cuartos.  Hay aparte una cabana pequena para dos personas. Comodidades (facilidades) incluyen inodoro con cadena,   baño ecológico, ducha y electricidad.  El piso encima ofrece una vista hermosa del dosel del bosque perfecto para ver aves y hamacas para descansar y leer un buen libro.  Senderos cortos desde las Cabañas ofrecen momentos de solitud y nuestro Orquideario ofrece una mirada cercana a las plantas más únicas de la zona.

Volunteers Wanted! – Se Buscan Voluntarios!

Volunteers can get involved in many ways from teaching English or computer skills to working on organic farms, or helping to maintain and develop trails. Opportunities for research abound in Ornithology, Entomology, Forest-Ecology, Human Rights, Sustainable Agriculture, and Archeoogy. We welcome student groups as well.

Volunteers pay around $15 a night for staying at the Cabanas, depending on how the group size and length of stay.

Voluntarios pueden enseñar ingles o computación o trabajar en fincas orgánicas, mantener los senderos, entre otras cosas. Hay abundantes oportunidades para investigaciones de ornitología, entomología, ecología forestal, agricultura sostenible, arqueología…

Voluntarios pagan alrededor de $15 por noche en las Cabanas, dependiendo en el tamano del grupo y cuantas noches se van a quedar.

We are currently looking for a volunteer coordinator.  Please read our post on idealist.org:

http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/VolunteerOpportunity/156907-161

Junín seeks a highly self-motivated individual with a strong appreciation for nature and sustainable community development so serve as their Volunteer Coordinator for a minimum of 3 months. This is a volunteer position for which you will be asked to pay a small daily fee to cover the cost of food; you will be given free housing in the ecotourist Cabañas de Junín. (See https://ecojunin.wordpress.com) The position entails helping to coordinate projects for volunteers—individual and groups—in the small town of Junín, located in the breathtakingly beautiful cloudforest region of Intag, in the province of Imbabura, some four hours northwest of Quito. Junín is located at the site of a large copper deposit, and so, for a number of years, Junín and the larger region of Intag, has organized itself against transnational mining companies wanting to mine there. One of the ways that Junín, and Intag, have organized themselves is in creating alternative sustainable projects such as ecotourism and a number of agricultural projects, such as shade-grown organic coffee. Thus the unique opportunities abound for volunteers who wish to help to further Junín’s vision for an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable community. Working as a Volunteer Coordinator will provide you with a unique opportunity to get to know a different way of life, and play a meaningful part in this larger vision.

Required Qualifications:
• Fluent in Spanish and English
• Experience organizing at the community level (ideally small, rural Latin American community, but not necessarily), or experience organizing volunteer projects
• Willingness to adapt to lifestyle in small-town rural Ecuador, which includes among other things: hiking about one to two hours on most days, sometimes more; manual labor; eating simple meals of rice and beans
• Interest and/or demonstrated commitment to nature conservation and sustainable development
• Comfortable leading groups of up to 20 volunteers
• Willingness to be sensitive to cultural differences (with respect to the local community, and also to visiting volunteers, who are usually from Europe and North America)
• Willingness to follow the direction of community members and leaders, working cooperatively and collaboratively
• Flexible and self-motivated!

Primary responsibilities will include:

• Responding to email inquiries from prospective volunteers
• Giving presentations on volunteering in Junín at various foundations that work with volunteers in Quito
• Communicating with volunteers prior to their arrival to have a clear idea of their qualifications and expectations so that they can be placed appropriately
• Making the appropriate preparations in Junín in order to receive volunteers and meet volunteers’ expectations as much a reasonably possible
• Communicating regularly with community leaders and members about volunteer projects
• Working collaboratively with community members to ensure that the volunteer projects are appropriate and effective, and are carried out in a culturally sensitive manner
• Ensuring that volunteers have a productive, meaningful, fun experience in Junín
• Receiving feedback from volunteers about their experience and using this to improve the reception of future volunteers

How to Apply:

Please briefly answer the following questions and email to ecojunin@yahoo.es. Inquiries can also be made to the following number: 088557141, or internationally, 593-88557141.

Do you speak English and Spanish fluently?

What experiences have you had in living in or working with rural communities? If not rural, any urban experiences?

What volunteer experiences have you had?

Are you comfortable hiking long distances? Doing manual labor such as lifting rocks and shoveling?

Would you consider yourself a nature-lover?

What is your definition of sustainable development?

Are you comfortable leading large groups?

Please give an example of a time when a marked cultural difference came up that could have offended someone and explain how you handled the situation.

What nature experiences have you had/ what kinds of outdoorsy activities do you enjoy doing?

What leadership positions have you held?

DEADLINE: October 10, 2008

Attractions – Atractivos

• Day-long and shorter hikes to the primary forests and beautiful waterfalls that lie within the community nature reserve.
• Bird watching (Cock of the Rock, toucans, trogons, hummingbirds…)

• Talks with community leaders about the history of the anti-mining struggle.  Visits to remains of drilling sites in primary forest when Bishimetals was exploring for copper.

• Visits to organic coffee farms, a sugarcane alcohol still, and community-protected watersheds.
  Swimming in Rio Junin.
• Talks on medicinal and other ethnic uses of plants of the region.

• Recorridos de día entero y recorridos cortos a bosques primarios y comunitarios, bellas cascadas y pozos viejos de la fase de exploración minera.
  
• Charlas sobre la historia de la lucha anti-minera por líderes de la comunidad.
  
• Visitas a fincas de café orgánica, una fábrica de aguardiente y las reservas hídricas comunitarias.
  
• Baños en hermosos vados y ríos naturales.
• Charlas sobre plantas medicinales y la etnobotania

Contact Us – Contactenos

Please call us before coming to visit!  We will arrange the truck ride and ensure that your rooms and meals are ready for you upon your arrival. 

If calling from within Ecuador please call: 088871860 or 099627851. If calling from the US please dial (011) 593-88871860 or (011) 593-99627851.

If your Spanish is shaky, an English-speaker may be available at the following number. If calling within Ecuador please dial 088557141, from US: (011) 593-88557141.  

 

We check our email about once a month (no internet in Junin!). It’s ecojunin@gmail.com.

 

Por favor llamenos con anticipacion! Arreglaremos la carrera de la camioneta, su cuarto y su comida para estar listo cuando Usted llega. 

Si esta llamando dentro del Ecuador marque: 088871860 o 099627851. Si esta llamando desde otro pais marque el codigo internacional mas el codigo del Ecuador (593) mas 88871860 o 99627851. 

Miramos nuestro correo electronico alrededor de una vez al mes: ecojunin@gmail.com

 

Clouds in Intag. Nubes en la zona de Intag.

How to Get There – Como Llegar

From Quito: Go to the bus terminal “La Ofelia” in northern Quito (approximately $3 cab ride from the Mariscal). Take the busline “Transporte San José de Minas” to Chontal Bajo (3 hours). The buses are red. Bus schedule: Mon-Fri: 5:45, 8:00, 11:00, 12:00, 2:30; Sat: 7:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:30, 2:00; Sun: 7:00,8:00, 11:00, 2:00. Call us ahead of time to have a pick-up truck come meet you in Chontal and take you to Junin. (Approximately $30, one-way, 90 minutes). Small groups of travelers can attempt hitchhiking to Junin from Chontal; hiking the road might take up to 6 hours. Leave earlier in the day if you plan to hitchhike–you’re more likely to catch a ride, and if your luck’s not so hot you won’t get caught in the dark.

From Otavalo: Take the busline “Transporte Otavalo” at the main bus terminal in Otavalo. The buses are blue, red, and white. Buy your ticket ahead of time at the white building near the public bathrooms as the bus tends to fill up quickly. Take the bus to Garcia Moreno (app. 4 hours) and enjoy the breathtaking view. Bus schedule: 10:00, and 14:00. You can either hike from Garcia Moreno to Junin (app. 3 hours) along a trail with beautiful views. Or you can call us ahead of time to arrange for a truck to pick you up and take you to the Cabanas (app. 1.5 hours, $30 for one trip). Hitchhiking is also an option for more adventurous travelers in small groups. (You may end up hiking part of the road as well.) Leave on the earliest bus if you plan to hitchhike or hike to Junin.

There are several interesting stops en route from Otavalo to Junin:

1. The Andean Bear Project in Pucara

2. The town of Apuela and their Solidarity Store with many products handmade by grassroots cooperatives in Intag, such as cabuya purses, aguardiente, soap, loofah products…

3. The hotsprings in Nangulvi (with food and comfortable lodging for tourists).

Just ask on the bus where you should get off. If you’d like to spend just a couple of hours at one of these sites you can take an earlier bus into Intag, and then switch to a bus that goes all the way to Garcia Moreno. (There are many buses that go as far as Pucara, Apuela, and Nangulvi each day in Intag, but only the two buses that go all the way to Garcia Moreno. Pucara, Apuela and Nangulvi are within one hour walking distance of each other, in that order.)

Desde Otavalo: Bus “Transportes Otavalo” a Garcia Moreno desde la terminal (4 horas). Horarios: 8:00, 10:00 y 14:00. Llámenos para arreglar la camioneta de Garcia Moreno (aprox. hora y media, $20 por cada carrera).

Desde Quito: Bus “Transportes San José de Minas” a Chontal desde la Terminal La Ofelia en Quito norte. Horarios: Lunes-Viernes: 5:45, 8:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:30. Sabado: 7:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:30, 14:00. Domingo: 7:00, 8:00, 11:00, 14:00. (3 horas). Llámenos para arreglar la camioneta de Chontal. (aprox. hora y media, $25 por cada carerra).

About Us – Sobre Nosotros

Junín is located in the sub-tropical cloud forest (1400 m) of the Andean Chocó bioregion, one of the ten most biodiverse regions of the world, and home to the Cock of the Rock, Andean Toucan, Spectacled Bear, Puma, Kinkajou, and a diversity of unique flora including a variety of orchid species.  Since 1997, Junín has gained attention worldwide for its struggle to protect its community and biodiversity against the threat of open-pit copper mining by transnational companies.  The community ecotourism project was developed in Junín as an alternative to mining, along with other environmentally sustainable projects such as organic coffee.

Junín esta ubicado en bosque sub-tropical y nublado (1400 msnm) de una de las diez regiones más biodiversas del mundo, la bioregion Chocó Andino, donde se encuentre Gallo de la Peña, el Tucán Andino, el Oso Anteojo, el Puma, el Tutamono, y una diversidad de orquídeas. Desde 1997 la comunidad de Junín se reconoció mundialmente por su lucha en defensa de su gente y su naturaleza frente a la amenaza de destrucción de la actividad minera por empresas transnacionales.  El ecoturismo comunitario es una actividad alternativa a la minera que se ha desarrollado en Junín, entre otras. como el cultivo de café orgánico y otros procesos agro-cultivos.