We have been very busy these last few months, and our reserves have grown by thousands of acres. Many new species have been described as well. I will catch up on that news in the next few weeks, but today I have only bad news.
Sunday June 16 the Baños area (along with much of the rest of Ecuador) was struck by its biggest rainstorm of the last twenty years. Huge landslides cut the main road between Banos and the Ecuadorian lowlands. The landslides fell hundreds of meters down the sides of the mountains, gaining energy and crushing houses and passing cars. El Placer and adjacent Quillaturo, the home towns of most of our Banos-area rangers, the gateway to our Cerro Candelaria and Naturetrek Reserve and the center of many of EcoMinga’s environmental programs, was hardest hit. Ten residents and at least four highway travelers were killed, including relatives of our rangers. The two towns are still at risk from more landslides, and all the surviving residents have fled, except for some elderly people who do not want to move. Many of the houses are damaged beyond repair, and many of the residents are afraid to return. This area was also hit by a fatal landslide about two years ago. One or both of the towns may now be permanently abandoned, either voluntarily or under government orders; this is still unclear.
The loss of life and loss of homes is a tremendous blow to the people of these two towns, an especially heartbreaking tragedy because this was a model community with an amazing degree of camaraderie and solidarity among its members, and a strong environmental consciousness which made our conservation work in the area much easier than it might have been. Many people from around the world have met and worked with our wardens and lived in their houses, and fallen in love with the grace and kindness of the town’s residents. It is almost unbearable to think that these people are now uprooted and homeless.
Here are more images from AP by Dorothy Ochoa:
We have started to mobilize relief supplies and raise funds to help the displaced townspeople. World Land Trust and Rainforest Trust have both pledged to help, as have our friends from Basel , the Amigos de la Reserva Dracula Ecuador (especially Urs Fischer), but more help is needed for the approximately 130 homeless families. The Orchid Conservation Alliance has kindly placed a button on their website for tax-deductible donations to this aid project:
In the text box labeled “My donation is for…”, if you wish to donate, please choose “EcoMinga Banos Landslide Fund”.
A group of St Olaf College students who lived for a semester in the homes of the residents of El Placer are also starting a GoFundMe campaign to provide rapid-response aid to the families affected. One of these students, Emma Rosen, wrote a touching guest post on this blog some time ago, describing her experience of living in this village. Her account is all the more poignant now. I will post the GoFundMe link here when it becomes available.
Edit: The GoFundMe campaign is now live here.
In Ecuador:
Lou Jost, Fundacion EcoMinga
Fundacion EcoMinga 