The Yamanunka Shuar Commune, located in the Shushufindi Canton, Province of Sucumbíos, already has a Life Plan for approximately 1,200 inhabitants. This valuable document was delivered by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Confeniae) in an official act on August 28, 2021, after 18 months of joint work with the community.

The work was carried out with the support of CONFENIAE; the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and UNDP, within the framework of PROAmazonía. The objective was to elaborate the life plan of Yamanunka, a planning tool for territorial development, from the vision of peoples and nationalities. This work was characterized by being participatory and having the permanent participation of the commune for its construction.

Life plans are instruments that allow Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities to plan and implement their own development based on constitutive criteria, such as: territory, bioeconomy, pluriversity, cosmovision, government and sacred watersheds.  PROAmazonía and Confeniae managed to define five territories to develop their life plans: Yamanunka (Sucumbíos), San Francisco de Chicta (Orellana), Shuar Sevilla Don Bosco and Santiak (Morona Santiago) and, Shuar El Pangui (Zamora Chinchipe).

Regarding Yamanunka, the document gathered historical information, kept in the memory of their eldery, as a cornerstone of their spirituality, respect for nature, the sacred forest sites, and the water sources. In the same way, the Life Plan refers to the changes that the terriotry has been subject to, identifying the issues that affect the population and establish the possible solutions to satisfy their basic needs,  their wishes and dreams, with support from social organizations, descentralized autonomous governments  (GAD) and the State.

With that aim, key activities were carried out, such as the Free, Prior and Informed Consent; community censuses, constitutive element workshops (territory, bioeconomy, pluriversity, sacred water sheds, autonomy and government); and the submission of the final document.

The president of the commune, Edwin Awak, expressed his appreciation and described the hard work from his leaders to mange this important milestone that will allow the territorial management with the GAD as well as local and international institutions. Additionally, he pointed out the importance of including actions and projects related to forest restoration, sustainable production, forest surveillance and permanent training to the members of the community, mainly women and youth groups.

Photo: Margoth Elizalde

Description: Delivery of the life plan by the Nanki Wampankit -CONFENIAE to the leader of the  Shuar Yamanunka Commune, Edwin Awak, Yamanunka. August 28th, 2021

Author:

• Margoth Elizalde – PROAmazonía North Platform Technician