Community Fund – Fundacion Fauna de la Amazonia – December Update
Hello, and welcome, to a New Year in Ecuador.
Here, at the end of the old year, loads of guys overdress as “women of the streets” (a sight to behold!) and extort money from passing car-drivers in an overtly “sexy” manner. Then at 12.00, fire is set to the range of cardboard ‘guys’ that many have spent days and weeks preparing, and such goes New Year here!
On the land, work has finally begun on the construction of the quarantine/clinic! A local expert builder and his assistant are undertaking the bulk of the work on a paid basis. We hope to have enough resources to at least have the building weather tight and secure, and so, even though we may not be using the building for its primary intention to begin with, we will have additional accommodation and covered building resource available for other volunteers and visitors, and ourselves of course.
The dam is also complete! Many thanks are due to Glen, Miriam, Pete and Wilson for their hard work preparing and constructing this. It looks great, and is scarcely visible in the jungle setting where it is camouflaged. The pipe connections are yet to be fitted – this is planned for early in this new year.
Our next plans also include more research activities using the trap cameras, sound equipment and other materials on the land and we have had several requests by researchers (botanists, zoologists and more) to assist us. We are lacking in accommodation at the moment, although hope to be able to enable people to work with us, using our limited resources, as best possible.
One of our younger supporters here in Ecuador, Dayana, alerted us last week to her discovery in a busy street in the centre of the town of Puyo, of a stranded Banded Amphisbaena! Her prompt action in advising meant we had time to rescue, and immediately release it in a suitable wild area on the outskirts of town. Thanks, Dayana – very well done!
It has been really great to have had the support, energy, passion, fun and commitment from Pete and Miriam over the last several weeks and months. Haste ye back!
All the very best for all the coming times.