Interview with Juan: Conservation in Ecuador

Recently, the V Social team gained an important new member: Juan, an Ecuadorian passionate about conservation.

Due to his technical background, Juan initially focused on making industrial and agricultural processes more environmentally friendly. But the more he engaged with ecological and social issues, the more his work shifted toward systemic approaches. Today, he combines scientific expertise with a strong belief that conservation can only succeed if it also includes social justice. Because of the specific threats to Ecuador’s ecological and cultural diversity, it is an especially important place to focus on the way these aspects intersect.

As our new Conservation and Community Manager, Juan took some time to share more about himself and his work with us.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with rural communities across Ecuador, including the Andes, the coastal regions, and the Amazon. While their landscapes, cultures, and even languages are diverse, they are often united by a deeply local but also fundamentally human goal: the desire to live peacefully, to thrive, to preserve their identity, protect their territories, and create better opportunities for the next generation, all while staying rooted in the places they call home.

Their main challenges are also strikingly similar:

While working with these communities, I’ve seen that conservation, for them, isn’t a separate activity: It’s a lived, everyday practice of resistance, care, and adaptation. And supporting that work means recognizing their leadership and centering their knowledge and hardship in any sustainable strategy.

There have been many! Living in Ecuador, you can't ignore the environmental and social crises that unfold around us: oil spills in protected areas, forest fires devastating biodiversity hotspots, or the gradual (but progressive) disappearance of mangroves. At the same time, political decisions often prioritize extractivism at the expense of communities and ecosystems, threatening Indigenous rights and long-term sustainability.

These moments are deeply frustrating, especially when you realize how hard it is to make an impact as an individual. But they’ve also shown me the power of collective action.

I understand that the only way forward is through alliances between communities, technical experts, civil society, and those inside institutions who care. Real change comes from working together, listening, and building solutions that are both grounded and inclusive.

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that conservation is not just about protecting ecosystems: it’s about sustaining ways of life that are deeply interwoven with nature.

These communities, especially in the Amazon and the Andes, approach conservation not as an external policy or project, but as a daily practice rooted in ancestral knowledge, observation, and care for their territory.

In terms of resilience, they’ve shown me that it goes far beyond just "coping with" change. It’s about adapting creatively and collectively, despite very real structural barriers, like the absence of public services, lack of recognition of land rights, or exposure to climate threats.

Their ability to continue defending their ecosystems while finding space for dialogue, innovation, and transmission of knowledge to younger generations is instructive for how we design more effective, context-based conservation strategies.

Conservation in Ecuador is more urgent than ever because the country sits at the heart of some of the planet’s most critical ecological and cultural systems.

Ecuador is not only one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It’s also where the Amazon Basin begins, through the Andean highlands and glaciers that feed into the rivers sustaining life across much of South America.

Today, this interconnected system is under immense pressure, including:

What makes Ecuador’s case particularly urgent is that these changes have continental impacts. Protecting the Amazon here (at its origin) is essential to the resilience of the entire basin and beyond. If we don’t act now, we risk losing not only ecosystems but also the knowledge, practices, and people that have cared for them for generations.

Local communities in Ecuador, particularly Indigenous and rural populations, are at the front lines of conservation. Their involvement includes day-to-day practices:

Yet, they face significant and growing barriers. One of the most urgent is the expansion of mining operations (both legal and illegal) which not only causes deforestation and habitat destruction, but also pollutes rivers with heavy metals and sediments. These contaminants don’t stop at the local level: they travel downstream, accumulating across watersheds all the way to the Amazon River, threatening aquatic life, food systems, and human health along the way.

Communities are also affected by other extractive activities and industrial agriculture. Many operate without adequate legal protections or recognition of land rights, and face a lack of state support. In some cases, they experience threats or criminalization for defending their environment.

Despite all this, communities continue to show remarkable resilience and leadership. What stands in their way isn’t a lack of commitment, but the weight of structural inequalities and extractive models that fail to value long-term sustainability over short-term gains.

The first and most important step is to get informed.

Understanding the environmental and social dynamics of Ecuador and other countries, their biodiversity, the pressures they face, and the role of local communities is key to becoming a respectful and supportive visitor. Awareness fuels both global and local advocacy and accountability, and visitors can play a role in amplifying the efforts of those working on the ground.

Supporting community-led alternatives is also crucial. One of the most direct ways to contribute is by engaging with community-based tourism initiatives, which not only offer meaningful experiences rooted in local culture and knowledge, but also help generate sustainable income for communities working to conserve their territories.

At a global level, we’re seeing setbacks in many environmental commitments, with extractive pressures and short-term policies often taking priority over long-term sustainability. But what gives me hope are local efforts that persist in spite of this. Especially when they are community-led and rooted in real, lived knowledge of the land.

One example is the Sinchi Warmi project in the Napo region, supported by the V Social Foundation. Thanks to recent efforts, 35 hectares of forest near the community has been secured for conservation. On this land, we’ll be working with the community to implement nature-based solutions, monitor biodiversity, count species, protect native plants, and restore tree cover, all while safeguarding water sources, soils, and ecosystems from extractive threats.

They may be small victories in the broader picture, but they’re grounded, tangible, and built to last, and that’s what makes them powerful.