What do black outs in 17 historic churches of Quito, Ecuador, Amazonian hot peppers, and conservation have in common? The 2016 Earth Hour in Ecuador, where Amazon products were showcased during the World Wildlife Fund’s iconic event for climate change. The linchpin of this yearly event is an hour of turning off the lights […]
by Jacob Olander The Ecuadorian Amazon is remarkably easy to get to. In no other of the eight countries of the Amazon River basin is the rainforest so accessible. In just a 3-hour drive from the Andean capital city of Quito, where we live, you’re down in the rainforest lowlands. It´s one of my favorite […]
Read More… from In the Native Land of Cacao, Vanilla and Amazon Cinnamon
In our last blog, we explored the important role that bees play in maintaining healthy ecosystems and farms – and the opportunities that honey and beekeeping represent for conservation. This second instalment takes a deeper look at how honey producers around the world are putting into practice the links between economic development and forest […]
Read More… from Bees–uniting economic development and conservation
Tourists returning from Andean South America will usually sport some sort of “alpaca item”: gloves, sweaters, hats, socks, all with pre-columbian-style designs, inevitably including the form of an alpaca. However, buyers rarely glimpse the truth behind this iconic industry—that the alpaca as well the artisans who work with a centuries-old tradition are in peril. But, like in centuries past, alpacas fit perfectly into the Andean environment and the needs of our modern lifestyles. Thanks to the efforts of two Ecuadorian initiatives, it is reappearing, […]
Read More… from Alpaca: Sustainable Futures from Past Cultures
We’re honored to have Ignacio Medina as a guest contributor to Canopy Bridge as someone who shares our commitment to the transformative power of food and ingredients and communicates that passion with exceptional clarity and flair. One day in Panama dining at a fine new restaurant, […]
This post was originally published on the Environmental Defense Fund website. Across the Amazon, indigenous peoples have long harvested well-known commodities like cacao, coffee, Brazil nuts, and hearts of palm. Indigenous communities rely on such “non-timber” forest products—which also include traditional crops and less well-known natural products such as sacha inchi and camu camu—for the communities’ own consumption and for sale. […]
This Article was originally published on the HuffingtonPost.com website. There is a type of river snail — a churo — in the Peruvian Amazon, large and meaty, that is especially delicious when slow-braised and served in the shell with a bright sauce of golden tapioca pearls. Indigenous people harvest the giant snail when the forest is flooded and transformed into an otherworldly realm where, because of the rising water level, fish swim among the majestic kapok tree and through the umbrella-like branches of the cecropia tree. […]
I’ve always been amazed at how my Ecuadorian grandmother managed to attend to her nine children, a husband, and many daily guests without the many tools and resources available today. My grandmother managed not only to make sure they were all fed, but she managed to keep them and herself happy in the process. She made things from scratch that we usually buy, like butter, yogurt, and flours, and even jello, which is harder to imagine coming from any place […]
Read More… from The Flavor of Memory – Mishky Huarmy’s Black Agave
