Project Partners

The Secoya Lodge project was made possible with the help of the Secoya community and the following organizations:

Fundación VIHOMA
VIHOMA is an Ecuadorian NGO that designs and develops projects based on scientific research (biological and social) and on the education of local populations to support their sustainable development and the conservation of the natural ecosystems and the traditional cultures in the country. Since its creation in 2001, VIHOMA has worked closely with the Secoya, supporting their conservation initiatives.
For more information go to: http://www.secoya.com

Econfund/FAN
This fund was created by OCP Ecuador S.A. and EnCana Corporation to support environmental conservation in Ecuador. The fund has been managed by the Fondo Ambiental Nacional (FAN) and supports projects on conservation, research and training in environmental areas in the country.
For more information go to: http://www.ecofondoecuador.org

The Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA)

The Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA) is a partnership of leading organizations in the sustainable tourism field working together with USAID Missions to apply a holistic and market-driven approach to sustainable tourism development.  This alliance enables its members (including leading tourism development institutions, conservation organizations, the private sector, and USAID) to combine resources, expertise and reach in exciting and innovative ways.  

For more information go to: http://www.gstalliance.net
 

The Ecuador Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) - www.gstalliance.net/ecuador
 
The Ecuador Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) was initiated in September 2007 and was made possible through the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  The overall objective of the program was to increase economic benefits and conservation awareness within the protected areas through sustainable tourism development.
 
The Ecuador Sustainable Tourism Alliance focused on the following protected areas of Ecuador:
 
• Cotopaxi
• Manglares Churute
• Machalilla
• Chimborazo
• RECAY (Cotacachi-Cayapas)
• Yasuni Cuyabeno Corridor
• RECC (Cayambe Coca)
 
Within these areas, USAID supported stakeholder actions to promote tourism development and expansion in the following five broad areas:
 
1) Improving the national tourism and protected area policy environments
To position Ecuador and its protected areas as major sustainable travel destinations by creating a transparent system for investors and visitors
 
2) Developing demand-driven products and services and promote investments
To develop and position a protected area’s brand with an array of high quality tourism products and services
 
3) Building capable and competent institutions, services, and personnel
To enhance the skills of the public sector, private sector, and local communities at the protected areas system and site levels
 
4) Stimulating innovation and replication of tourism products and services
To identify opportunities for innovation and rapid sharing of new technologies and services through emerging networks
 
5) Monitoring and evaluating program performance
To provide timely data to facilitate corrective action, validate assumptions, and verify program impact
 

Project Partners

The ESTA was a partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ecuador’s Ministry of the Environment (MAE) and Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR). Project partners (see below) collaborated with the ministries to achieve project objectives of improving biodiversity conservation and effective management of Ecuador’s protected areas.
 
The Management Partners group is lead by the Academy for Educational Development (who holds the legal agreement with USAID) and also includes Solimar International, The George Washington University and The Nature Conservancy. Two other organizations that were critical to the success of the ESTA project in Ecuador included Conservation International (CI) and Rainforest Alliance (RA).
 
In addition, and number of local organizations were fundamentally involved in the ESTA project in Ecuador, including:
 
CARE, CORDTUCH, CODESPA, CORPEI , ESPOCH, Fundación Alternativa, Fundación Páramo, Fundación Rumicocha, Municipio de El Chaco, Municipio de Guayaquil, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Samiri, Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo (UEES), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
 
For more information go to: www.gstalliance.net/ecuador