Amazon Interactive
The Ecotourism Game
Bring in Quito travel agency
Gilberto, the manager of ADVENTURAS AMAZONIAS, agrees to helpyour community develop the ecotourism project. He scouts out several trailsthrough the rainforest. He builds several tourist cabins on the banks ofthe Río Pangayacu. He hires your grandfather Alonso to demonstratea shamanic ritual using hallucinogenic drugs from the rainforest.
Within a month, Gilberto begins bringing tour groups to yourcommunity. The tourists are interested in your way of life, and they areespecially fascinated by Alonso's rituals. Some like the hallucinogenicdrug so much that they try to buy more to use later during their stay, oreven to take home.
But the drugs are part of Quichua traditions and should notbe used outside of special ceremonies. Some of your neighbors think thatgiving these drugs to tourists lessens the meaning of the rituals.
The tourists also stare and take photographs, making someQuichua feel like they are in a zoo.
Gilberto refuses to impose restrictions on the tourists, sayingthat they are on vacation and should be able to do as they please. He alsopoints to the money everyone is making from tourism and asks who wants togive it up.
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| There has been little change in land use. Currently about a third of allcommunity land is primary rainforest. | Families are enjoying their extra income from tourism. At this rate, eachhousehold will make about $300 more this year than last year. |
The money isn't enough to quiet the protests. After severalmonths, the people of Pangayacu decide to cancel their agreement with Gilberto.Some want to ban tourists from the community. Others want to try runningthe project locally. What do you want to do?
