Paper short abstract:

This paper provides an ethnographic example of how two communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon have engaged in what outsiders might see as a paradox: protection of the rainforest for eco-tourism while at the same time seeking employment with foreign oil companies with regards to extraction.

Paper long abstract:

Over the past 30 years, the economy of indigenous communities in the Napo Province of Amazonian Ecuador has shifted from one almost entirely centered on agriculture and hunting to one dependent on cash crops (coffee, cacao, rice, and maize). An explosion in population growth coupled with rising costs of living have led to increased forest clearing and land cultivation, resulting in decreasing tropical forest acreage. These factors have led to concerns about environmental degradation and a number of indigenous communities have turned to eco-tourism as an alternative to commercial agriculture. Issues pertaining to environmental conservation have been further complicated by an increase in exploration and extraction of oil in the Amazon over the past 20 years. However, rather than protesting the introduction of oil extraction, communities have united with regards to negotiation of compensation and the employment of local citizens with the companies. In this paper, I will provide an ethnographic example of how two communities have engaged in what outsiders might see as a paradoxical performance of indigenous identity: seeking to maintain and protect the rainforest for the purposes of eco-tourism while at the same time seeking employment and negotiating with foreign oil companies with regards to extraction and development. To better understand the relationship between environmental conservation, eco-tourism, and natural resource extraction, I will work from a theory of environmental citizenship (with an eye toward agency and self-determination), which considers both calls for environmental justice by indigenous peoples and the role of community in determining developmental priorities.