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Amazon Headwaters

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

Lowland Quichua man casts a hand-woven seine net or "ataraya" (Spanish name) into the Arajuno river. The traditional dugout canoe is carved from the local rainforest hardwood "Canelo" (Nectandra sp.)

He already knew something tropical biologists have found in modern research. Canelo trees uptake silica (which is in solution in the soil) at a much higher rate than most plants. Canoes carved from Canelo last longer, resisting the 300 inches of yearly rainfall in this region.

It's also important to note that established lowland Quichua communities favor traditional methods such as the cast-net and single hook lines over dynamite fishing and the recent use of the dangerous pesticide Methavin by colonists and commercial fishermen.

These are examples of how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and practice confirms modern science and sustain healthy river systems. Rio Arajuno, Napo province, Amazonian Ecuador.