PROJECTS
The Siekopai, or “people of many colours”, speak the language of Paicoca, part of the Tucanoan language group. They inhabit warmer lowland forests nearer the Peruvian border, overlapping the Cuyabeno Flora and Fauna Reserve.
Their territory has been fragmented and they were displaced from their ancestral home, Lagartococha, which they are fighting to reclaim. Affected by the Texaco-Chevron oil disaster, they live downstream from gold mining activity, and agrochemical runoff from a vast palm oil plantation. The rivers they depend on for fish are no longer sustainable sources of food and drinking water.
The Siekopai are highly knowledgeable about their forests and have effectively kept tens of thousands of hectares of forest intact against all odds. YAKUM has supported the planting of Siekopai food forests and territory mapping work since 2018.
THREATS IN THE AREA
The Siekopai, or “people of many colours”, speak the language of Paicoca, part of the Tucanoan language group. They inhabit warmer lowland forests nearer the Peruvian border, overlapping the Cuyabeno Flora and Fauna Reserve.
Their territory has been fragmented and they were displaced from their ancestral home, Lagartococha, which they are fighting to reclaim. Affected by the Texaco-Chevron oil disaster, they live downstream from gold mining activity, and agrochemical runoff from a vast palm oil plantation. The rivers they depend on for fish are no longer sustainable sources of food and drinking water.
The Siekopai are highly knowledgeable about their forests and have effectively kept tens of thousands of hectares of forest intact against all odds. YAKUM has supported the planting of Siekopai food forests and territory mapping work since 2018.
THREATS IN THE AREA
FOOD FORESTS PROJECT
Since 2018 YAKUM and committed families have planted 7 family and school food forests, with seeds from useful tree species across Ecuador. In 2020 new families are coming on board and the Payaguaje family are building a Food Processing Lab in order to can, jar and dehydrate fruit production as well as extract fruit and nut oils.
Since 2018 YAKUM and committed families have planted 7 family and school food forests, with seeds from useful tree species across Ecuador. In 2020 new families are coming on board and the Payaguaje family are building a Food Processing Lab in order to can, jar and dehydrate fruit production as well as extract fruit and nut oils.
MAPPING
11 committed young Siekopai participated in a 4-month mapping project to identify deforestation and contamination threats to their territory, and important resources available in the forest that present potential opportunities to them. Since this project, in collaboration with YAKUM, the map team are mapping water sources free from oil and mining contamination, and are patrolling territory limits to identify and stop invaders from logging and poaching.
11 committed young Siekopai participated in a 4-month mapping project to identify deforestation and contamination threats to their territory, and important resources available in the forest that present potential opportunities to them. Since this project, in collaboration with YAKUM, the map team are mapping water sources free from oil and mining contamination, and are patrolling territory limits to identify and stop invaders from logging and poaching.
