The project aims to improve the quality of life of people living in the border area of Ecuador-Perù through sustainable management of the local ecosystem of the “Dry Forest”, strengthening the capacity of small groups of productors to implement policies and actions that promote good environmental management practices.
At the end of this five years project, the water supply and irrigation systems have greatly improved thanks to new systems of collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water in rural communities, a municipal laboratory for the analysis of water quality, 90 wells with their pumps and 100 irrigation systems with different types (drip, sprinkler and gravity).
Farmers have been encouraged in a process of transition to organic farming, with 2 institutional nurseries and 4 community nurseries, the collection and reproduction of indigenous seeds, the recovery and improvement of old techniques of sustainable agriculture, the re-introduction of natural fertilizers and combination of cultivations and the installation of agro-forestry systems.
Moreover, we have worked on reforestation with natural regeneration of forest’s protected areas; studies on the Tumbesina region and publication of inventories of endemic species and traditional technologies of the area of the “Dry Forest”.
Awareness campaign have been carried out among schools and local communities.