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ECUADOR

Help keep the bulldozers out of Jatun Sacha Biological Station

"Friends,
We need your help to prevent road construction in our Amazon biological station. The Provincial Government of Napo is threatening to enter our reserve with bulldozers. Jatun Sacha Biological Station, the Children's Second International Rainforest reserve of 2,000 hectares is legal property of the our foundation, but the Provincial Government is again planning to construct a road dissecting our reserve.The Jatun Sacha Biological Station contains as many or more species than the United States..."



The Napo Provincial Government in the Ecuadorian Amazon, is considering constructing a road directly through the Jatun Sacha Biological Station, transecting over 4 km of primary rainforest. The road would service 5 communities along the Arajuno and Puni rivers, tributaries of the Napo River. Roads are a necessity for travel and commerce, however the Government has initiated and never completed two parallel roads within 8 and 12 kilometers of the proposed via. Completion and extension of one of the unfinished roads, through Quisacocha, would serve more than twice as many communities for an equivalent cost.

Community people need access to transport their agricultural goods, and reach professional help in emergencies. The Jatun Sacha Foundation supports technological advancement and even road construction for our neighbors, however the provincial government has recently bulldozed other road openings with no ability to finish their actions.

We request they first complete the Quisacocha road, before bulldozing through our biological reserve.



Jatun Sacha Biological Station

Established in 1985, the biological station protects 2,000 hectares of one of the most diverse rainforest habitats on earth. Numerous botanical and wildlife studies conducted have documented several of the top worldwide species counts inside the small reserve: 120 mammals, over 800 butterfly species, over 540 bird species, as many as
250 tree species in one hectare, and over 2,000 plant species in 20 sq km. Unfortunately no other reserve in Ecuador protects rainforests located in the small belt of Wet Tropical Rainforest which connect the Andes Mountain Range and the Amazon River Basin. The national park system of Ecuador has no plans to establish reserves in the small, threatened area of lowland wet rainforest, which is recognized as an international conservation hotspot due to the incredible diversity and rapid destruction of private forests. The Jatun Sacha Biological Station is at risk of a possible extinction of various endemic species if the road is constructed and utilized, since it will dissect the biological station.

Alternatives

The Provincial Government has the option to complete a similar road, already bulldozed and extend the road to the same destination as the proposed Jatun Sacha road, for the same price. This option will cut through more than 1/4 km of primary rainforest, and will provide access for more than twice as many rural people.

A road through the Jatun Sacha reserve is no less expensive completing a nearby road.

Can the world afford to cut in half one of the world's most diverse rainforests reserves?

What You Can Do

Please prevent a tragedy from occurring.

WRITE A NOTE TO STOP THE CHICHICO RUMI-PUNI BOCANA ROAD

directed to the
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF NAPO,
Consejo Pronvincial del Napo
Dr. Edison Chavez,
Fax: (593)-6-887-495
Tena Ecuador


the ECUADORIAN MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT, mma@ambiente.gob.ec

and the JATUN SACHA FOUNDATION. jatsacha@jsacha.ecuanex.net.ec
www.jatunsach.org

Help us re-route the Chichico Rumi-Puni Bocana Road, and terminate the Venecia-Quisacosha-Shiguacocha Road.

mccolm@jsacha.ecx.ec
Jatun Sacha Foundation, Casilla 17-12-867, Quito, Ecuador
Phone: (593 2) 441-592 Fax: (593 2) 250-976

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