Charapa Turtles a contribution to community tourism and biodiversity conservation ; Tortugas Charapa un aporte para el turismo comunitario y conservación de la biodiversidad

Abstract

In the last decade in the Republic of Ecuador tourism has been strengthened considerably and one of the beneficiaries has been the indigenous and rural communities through community-based tourism. This type of tourism has not achieved the goals for which it was conceived. The present study aims to demonstrate the problem of community-based tourism in a community in Yasuni National Park focusing on legal and economic aspects and the implementation of a solution through a proposal of a project linking academia, government institutions and communities, focusing on the use of a threatened species and taking advantage of its conservation program through tourism use. The methodology is based on a bibliographic compilation and the application of professional experiences and fieldwork with the use of interviews and observation. The main results indicate that there are serious problems in legal aspects and economic management; and, that the best option for implementing a conservation program is the Charapa species (Podocnemis unifilis and Podocnemis expansa). Managers are motivated to carry out training and strengthening programs that really focus on the weaknesses of the communities that carry out this type of tourism. ; En la última década en la República del Ecuador se fortaleció notablemente el turismo y uno de los beneficiados fueron las comunidades indígenas y rurales mediante el turismo comunitario. Este tipo de turismo no ha logrado alcanzar las metas por las que se concibió. El presente estudio pretende demostrar la problemática del turismo comunitario en una comunidad en el Parque Nacional Yasuni enfocándose en aspectos legales y económicos y la implementación de una solución mediante una propuesta de un proyecto de vinculación entre la academia, instituciones gubernamentales y comunidades, centrándose en el uso de una especie amenazada y aprovechar su programa de conservación mediante un uso turístico. La metodología se basa en una recopilación bibliográfica y la aplicación de experiencias profesionales y ...