Kawsay Ñampi (Way of Life): Conservation and Preservation in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The Kawsay Ñampi (Way of Life): Conservation and Preservation of the Living Forest Project, situated in Sarayaku, Ecuador, works with the Indigenous People of Sarayaku to protect and conserve 100,251 ha of Primary Amazonian lowland evergreen forest in their territory from the deforestation and degradation that would result from proposed extractive activities.

The implementation of Kawsay Ñampi, as proposed by the Indigenous People of Sarayaku, will serve to not only reduce GHG emissions from deforestation associated with extractive activities. It will also include supporting activities to enrich ecosystem biodiversity and the resilience of the community through economic and cultural development.

TLLG was contracted by the project developers - a research team at UC Merced, to apply a Plan Vivo Approved Approach to estimate baseline emissions and expected climate benefits for the Kawsay Ñampi Project in the 2021. – 2026 accounting period. The methodology applied conservative forest carbon estimates sourced from Ecuador's Ministry of the Environment, and remote sensing analysis conducted by UC Berkley.

Photo: Sarayaku Indigenous Terrirtory, Ecuador. © UC Merced

Client: University of California Merced

Location: Ecuador

Period: Apr to Dec 2021