Towards the end of September, a community leader from a Shuar village in Morona Santiago province came to our offices in Quito seeking help with a problem facing his community. This story is typical of the type of events that are happening all over Ecuador. It highlights the disadvantages indigenous peoples face in their struggle to reconcile with the forces of globalization and the new economic system that it imposes on them, and demonstrates the impunity with which external forces can destroy their environment and threaten their culture.

A stranger appeared in their village one day and offered to sell them a second-hand generator for $ 2000 to power their village. The community was eager to purchase the generator, but they only had $ 800 in cash to offer. The stranger said it would be fine, and that he would take the rest in trees that he and his crew would cut down and extract.

Over the next several months, the man moved in with an ever-growing crew of loggers and began to extract the best and largest specimens from the forests to which the community has legal title. Villagers are increasingly distressed as their forests are destroyed, but are powerless to prevent illegal loggers from cutting down and extracting their trees. The police have shown little interest in helping the indigenous population, probably receiving regular bribes from loggers to look the other way.

Now the villagers are wondering how they will live once all the trees are gone, and they came to us for help trying to do something before the worst happens.

Ecuador is losing its forests at a rate of nearly 400 hectares per day (550 soccer fields per day), through careless illegal logging that benefits relatively few dishonest people. Aside from the resulting human catastrophes, like the previous story, the environmental and ecological impacts are just as serious. These forests are home to many unique species of flaura and fauna. Once felled, these species lose their ecological niches and die.

To learn more about what Ecotrackers is doing to end illegal logging in Ecuador, and to learn about the various ways you can help, click on our homepage =>[http://www.ecotrackers.com]