Chapter one of Ecuador's Environmental Revolutions discusses the reasons why Ecuador is an interesting place to study environmental issues. Chapter two begins by explaining how Ecuador's representativeness, uniqueness, and transnational funding make the country a great case study for environmental issues. Ecuador is considered representative of Latin American and Caribbean countries due to its similar socio-environmental issues; comparing Ecuador's key socio-economic statistics to the region average the data and trends are very similar. Even though Ecuador is very similar to other Latin American and Caribbean countries, it is unique in some ways. For example, Ecuador is rich in petroleum, it is an ecotourism destination, it is smaller in size to most countries within Latin America, and it is made up of four distinct bioregions. These bioregions include the Galapagos, the coast, the Andes, and the Amazon. The Galapagos Islands face the challenge of managing ecotourism and protecting their native species. The coast struggles with protecting the mangroves and other sensitive regions while being host to numerous ports.The Andes are the most mountainous region within Ecuador, a region constantly subject to harmful mining practices. The Amazon is rich in petroleum and constantly faces the threat of resource extraction and exploitation. Ecuador has a large amount of transnational funding because it is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. In the 1980s Ecuador was officially named a biodiversity “hotspot” by scientist Norman Myers.
According to Myers a biodiversity hotspot can be identified by “exceptional concentrations of species with exceptional levels of endemism and areas that face exceptional degrees of threat”. In Myers article about biodiversity hotspots he explains how it is necessary to identify these regions so that the limited conservation funds that exist in the world can be used in the most effective way. He viewed it as a “systematic response” to the “large scale extinctions” imminent in the future. A characteristic such as having a very high number of endemic species within a small area could help a region qualify as a hotspot. Many resources suggest that one reason why scientists try to locate hot spots like Ecuador, is to properly allocate limited conservation funding from transnational funders. In 1988 when Myers published his article only 10 hotspots had been identified but since then 24 more have been added.
Ecuador is a biodiverse region that exports a wide variety of goods. Shifting to sustainable development is especially a challenge for developing countries like Ecuador that rely heavily on exporting materials for profit. A number of goods that are exported from Ecuador have posed numerous environmental, political, and socioeconomic challenges. For example, the flowers that Ecuador exports require pesticides that hurt the environment, but they are also an export that generates income for the state and provide citizens with jobs. Similarly, shrimp farming in Ecuador destroys mangroves but it is very profitable. Banana plantations may generate revenue as well but at a cost. These plantations are connected with child labor, poor working conditions, and unfair pay. Canned fish production provides profits but it has high environmental costs. However, even with all of its negative impacts it is still a subsidized industry. These subsidies in some cases can help the environment if they are put towards something like a more efficient boat. However, typically these subsidies just increase the amount of fishing taking place.
The export from Ecuador that brings the country the most profit is oil. Extracting oil brings many short term benefits to the country. For example when oil exports first began the military used the oil returns to benefit the country by investing in education and health. Illiteracy decreased and there was greater access to clean water for Ecuadorian citizens. Unfortunately, these social reforms are diminished by the serious environmental damage that occurs with oil extraction. Environmental damage will lead to significant harm to the human population. Even with the threat of significant harm to the environment and human health the state still allows oil extraction because it needs income to repay debts and take care of its citizens. Since oil accounts for over fifty percent of the states revenue.
It is difficult for developing countries like Ecuador to balance the three pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. Examining Ecuador’s exports it is clear that if one aspect of sustainability is being fulfilled the other aspects are being neglected. Its current extractive practices are not sustainable. However, the citizens of Ecuador and the state itself rely on the funding its extractive practices generate to survive. Looking into alternatives to current practices would be a good way for Ecuador to be more sustainable. For example, reducing pesticide use and finding natural ways to improve the health of crops could help increase the sustainability of the flower, cocoa, coffee, and banana exports. Setting limitations on fishing activities and adding efficiency standards to boats being used could improve the mangrove habitats and threat of over fishing caused by shrimp and canned fish exports. Closely monitoring ecotourism activities and reducing the amount of ecotourists that visit per year would help protect the environment as well. To help with social issues, more rights for plantation workers could be actively enforced. Increasing the costs of the product being exported by a small amount could help improve working conditions or the environment if the additional profit was diverted to supporting one of these causes. Ecuador has to work to find new ways to export with more sustainable practices or the rich biodiversity of the region will continue to be at risk.
Works cited: “Banana Link.” Social Problems | Banana Link, www.bananalink.org.uk/social-problems.
Bowen , Iván Prieto. THE IMPACT OF FISHERIES SUBSIDIES ON TUNA SUSTAINABILITY AND TRADE IN ECUADOR . United Nations Environment Programme, 2009, unep.ch/etb/areas/fisheries%20country%20projects/ecuador/Executive%20Summary.pdf.
Myers, N. (1988). Threatened biotas: “Hot spots” in tropical forests. Environmentalist, 8(3), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02240252 Myers, Norman, et al. “Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, www.nature.com/articles/35002501.