NGOs and environmental intervention: Geographies of sustainable forestry by Ecuadorian NGOs

by Raberg, Lena M., Ph.D., Rutgers The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick, 2006, 391 pages; AAT 3249560

Abstract (Summary)



This dissertation explores the geographical dimension of sustainable forestry efforts by Ecuadorian NGOs through a mapping and ethnographic analysis of the project site selection decision-making process. Previous studies have identified an uneven presence of NGOs, both internationally and locally. This pattern seems explicable through Central Place Theory. According to this hypothesis, there is a spatial bias that focuses attention on the core while largely ignoring the periphery. As a result, the numbers and the types of projects change with distance from capital cities. The dissertation also examines the locational influences of national parks and forest reserves.



Findings suggest that sustainable forestry by NGOs in Ecuador follows certain 'unwritten spatial rules of behavior'. These rules are based on several factors, including NGO characteristics, NGO networks, project characteristics, physical geography, and distances of projects to capital cities and national parks/reserves. Data for the national-scale analysis was collected in interviews with representatives for seventeen Quito-based Ecuadorian NGOs involved in sustainable forestry, and 124 project sites are mapped. A regional-scale study was done to find out whether the national patterns of sustainable forestry interventions repeat themselves within more localized domains. The regional analysis examines six Cuenca-based NGOs and maps their 33 forestry projects across the southern provinces Azuay and Caņar. It also examines 101 reforestation project sites by CREA, a regional development agency in Cuenca. Forest management and protection is the most prevalent type of forestry activity by NGOs and the great majority of projects take place on land belonging to smallholders. Forty percent of the projects by national NGOs are located within 100 km from Quito and sixty-nine percent are located near a national park or reserve.



It is concluded that the locations of sustainable forestry projects by Ecuadorian NGOs correlate with proximity to central places. The overall spatial pattern of projects can be described as centered around the capital city, but with a secondary focus on endangered forest ecosystems. Quito, Cuenca, national parks and reserves all exert a certain degree of pull on NGOs, guiding site selection and creating a particular spatial pattern of activities.