indigenous

• A new road in Ecuador’s Pastaza province is under construction to improve access to the interior of the country’s Amazonian region.
• The 42-kilometer (26-mile) project will connect Indigenous Waorani communities to urban centers and aims to reduce food transportation costs.
• Construction of the road, however, hasn’t been managed well by the environment ministry, critics say, and has attracted deforestation along its route, according to a newly published report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
• The project has been met with mixed reactions from communities, according to the president of the Waorani Nation, and an Indigenous guard group has been deployed to ensure environmental standards are being met.

A new road connecting eight Indigenous Waorani communities to urban centers in Ecuador’s Pastaza province aims to improve access to the interior of the Amazon and reduce transportation costs. But while it promises savings in time and costs, the environment and local communities may end up paying a high price, says Gilberto Nenquimo, president of the Waorani Nation, or NAWE.

The 42-kilometer (26-mile) road begins at the Nushiño River before winding west across thick Amazonian jungle to reach the eight Waorani communities in the interior, including the community of Toñampade. First approved in 2018, there are 28.3 km (17.6 mi) left of the road to complete.

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