BCC Ecuador Expedition - Part 1

Big Canopy Campout’s 2023 expedition to the Siekoya Remolino in Ecuador came and went after an intense year of preparations and fundraising and while we are sad to see it behind us, we are delighted that all of our (and your!) efforts and planning have come together to fulfil the promises that we made to the community last year.  Though we only spent 12 days with the community, we achieved our goals with the tree climbing, herbalism, and videography, and by the end of our stay we came away feeling significantly closer to the Siekopai community.

Vicki, Sven and Nora took 7 members of the community up into the trees in and around the village, teaching them a range of access and rescue techniques over the course of 8 days.  Our aim was to adapt our climbing techniques and knowledge to the needs of the community and their environment.

The Climbing Crew

We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people. Everyone was willing to learn and work together to create the best outcome for the first step in using tree climbing as a skill for the future of their community.

While the tree climbing workshop was in full swing, Bex and Lies of the herbal team got involved in the lab, discussing with the members of the community who were closely involved in that area of work.  Products were decided on and experiments were carried out, aiming to ascertain which of the local flora could be sustainably harvested and processed into products, and which kind of products would be most suitable as a source of revenue for the community.

Roasting cocoa beans to make cocoa butter

These fire proofed ceramics are made by hand by the women of the community using clay from the river banks and they are as beautiful as they are practical!

The videographers were in amongst all of this, capturing the essence of what the expedition aimed to achieve.  As well as this, they accumulated some beautiful footage of the Seikopai going about their daily lives in the village, and amongst the more isolated huts nearby.  The abundance of footage, alongside interviews with community members, has given us the material needed to create a feature length documentary, and BCC can continue to help tell the story of the Siekopai for years to come, showcasing the importance of the Siekopai’s fight to preserve their culture and identity on an international scale.

Mat & Rebecca getting some moral support from the local dogs!

With over 23 hours of footage shot over the two weeks, the camera team are currently in the midst of editing the documentary that will be premiered in April this year at the Deutsche Baumplegetage. You can find details of the event here.

The Siekoya Remolino Community

Our bus from Quito took us to a small port village on the banks of the Rio Aguarico, a different world entirely to the capital city where we had set off from that morning.  From this small village we were to travel by canoe to the Siekopai territory, and after 11 hours on the bus, seeing the landscape transform around us, it had already become fully apparent just how far removed the Siekoya Remolino are from the country’s capital. 

One of the many beautiful sunset river journeys that put into perspective the scale and beauty of the forest and how remote we really were.

As we spoke to our hosts, Antonio and Lili, the following morning we came to understand that this remoteness was not just geographic, but also political.  The community as a whole has come to accept that the government has abandoned them as a people, denying them basic services on account of their indigenous status, and seemingly due to their ongoing resistance against the encroaching oil and palm oil industries as well.  They went on to tell us of the various projects that the community has underway, largely through the work of the SËRA Foundation, and how a key goal part of their ongoing resistance is to put their name on the map.  By making the Siekopai a known name they would make their identity undeniable to the people and politicians of Ecuador.  In addition to this they hope to better established sources of financial income, as well as food security, to help sustain their way of life for generations to come.

Yoko - Amazon coffee :)

Made from the bark of a vine this coffee- like drink is traditionally drank early in the morning to clear the mind and invigorate people for the day ahead.

As we walked through the village, and around the hut where we were accommodated, it was striking to see how abundant the jungle was, no more than a stone’s throw from wherever we stood at any given time.  Flora of the surrounding rainforest seems to burst at the seams, trying to encroach on the patches of ground which have been cleared for gardens and communal areas.  Amongst these communal areas, especially in the village itself, domestic dogs wander from place to place and the children of the village play, often climbing the guaba trees to pick fruit from the branches. No matter the time of day life has a rhythm in the village, with the only commotion seeming to be when the dogs would run to the riverbank, barking their welcome as we arrived each morning by canoe.

Traveling along the river, whether it’s upstream or down, we eventually begin to see the fields of monoculture plantation and distinct signs of industry.  Along the river there are sections of farmland which range in size from modestly sized farms to more industrial plots, and as soon as we reach an established road we see the tree-line drop, and a seemingly endless expanse of palm oil plantations come into view.  Along this stretch of river, the large trees of the jungle still persist, but the further we travel from the Siekopai Remolino territory the more signs of industry come into view.  From the farms and makeshift logging operations, to large plantations and the traffic of large boats, the biggest seen on the river, dedicated to the transport of oil tankers to and from the oil extraction plants further afield.

Our home during our expedition, this building was only recently built to accommodate visitors at the community and we were the first group to have the pleasure of staying there!

Time spent with the Siekopai, their village surrounded by trees and life, it is easy to get the impression of being in a healthy and abundant region of rainforest.  However, it remains as just a fragment of ecologically healthy land in that area, and example of the kind of environment which was once the norm through the entire stretch of the Aguarico.  As the territory of the Siekopai diminished, more and more of the land surrounding their territory became farmland and monoculture plantation, devoid of the rich culture and traditions that once thrived there.

Our time living with the community was a huge privilege for us, and while the priorities for our two weeks with the Siekopai were to deliver our promises in regards to the tree climbing workshop and herbalism, we took great value in gaining an insight into such a wonderful way of life being lived here.  Antonio and Lili, our incredible hosts and highly motivated members of the community, told us of the aspirations of the Siekopai and the realities of daily life there.  While the traditions and crafts of the community remain abundant, and deeply valued, there has been the gradual implementation of technology and modern comforts.  The balance of these two things appears to be key to their aspirations, and it is this approach to securing their future that BCC can help with.  Between the expedition, and the money raised for their laboratory, we can provide assistance from the modern world, while they ensure that their core traditions and values are retained in the process.

Juice of the Morete processed, bottled and labelled with the new Siekoya Remolino logo!