Tarqui and Mazan Fundacion Ecologia

Captain's Log, Day 73: The dreams of the biologists I've worked with have never ceased to amaze me. When you've considered the research, obligations to governmentally-funded environmental programs, and the personal and family time, the fact that there are additional projects like Fabian's Mazan Fundacion Ecologia...you really start to understand the true meaning of dedication. Projects like Ernesto's Amaru and Fabian Toral's Mazan are purely the fruits of life's work that goes above and beyond the call of duty.

The second piece of the Fabian puzzle: Mazan Fundacion Ecologia. Fabian asked himself what would spread the word about and help ameliorate the situation of animal trafficking down here most effectively, and he came up with this. Privately funded and owned, the farm and bird breeding center at Mazan is aimed towards public education about sustainable living and healthy alternatives to animal trafficking. I'll give you all a bit of the tour Fabian gave me...

Welcome to Mazan: future center of the hoped-for association of bird breeders in Cuenca, and tourism for Conservation. 

The property is owned by a family who wants to develop it into a tourism-for-Conservation location. They agreed to work with Fabian so they could make their dreams a reality. This view is from their driveway in Tarqui, an area just outside of Cuenca. 

Because the demand for domesticated birds is so high, Fabian wants to help traffickers learn that there are better ways to make money in the bird trade: healthy practices in Canary, Parakeet, and Ornamental Chicken and Piegon breeding are what he aims to teach at the Mazan aviaries. 

The end-goal for the Mazan project is to establish a coalition of breeders in Cuenca, and recruit traffickers to this way of life in place of their previous practices. Educating the public about the differences between wild birds (parrots and other native species) and so called domestic breeds (parakeets, chickens, etc) is Mazan's first initiative. Hopefully, the tourism aspect would bring in the funds for the educational program.

Beautiful facility. Lots of happy birds. 

Cuy, as well!

Rabbits eating some of the house-grown sod. Om nom nom nom. 

Fabian hopes to be an example to the public of an idealized breeding facility. This may encourage others to start similar projects, and convince the public of the profitability of such enterprises. 

Oh hey there!

He sure had me convinced. Beautiful coops!

More ideas by Fabian: hydroponics for organic and safe food production for in-house animals. 

Very nice. 

Ideas for MY birds and Amaru in the future! 

They even have around-the-clock rat-control. 

On top of the bird breeding, the property includes organic greenhouses where they grow all the vegetables they and the animals need for survival. 

Composting projects! Nothing is wasted. 

Did I mention the property was beautiful? The view looking out over Tarqui. 

As far as the tourism side goes, Mazan will offer five-star digs for visitors while they learn about the region's ecology, cultural histories, and hopes for shaping the future of conservation. 

If you ever want to visit...

They offer experiences in natural healing and local health ceremonies. Here's a tub for hot-spring therapies. They have a local specialist on call for massages, water therapies, and more...

A special room for Shamanic ceremonies, too. I bet the stars are gorgeous in this room at night. 

You can't really see them all that well, but they have goats here, too! For milk and cheese. Yay goats!

They also offer up the place for weddings and parties. 

Pulling the public in is the first step. Once they're visiting, we can pounce on them with our conservation messages. Muahahaha. Good thinking. 

Happy hound of the house. 

So there you have it. A preview of dreams in the works with Fabian. After our morning at Mazan, we headed to visit the Tarqui Zoo, which is yet another site that trafficked animals occasionally end up calling home in Cuenca...

Fabian with the zoo's owner; a man who has informally been taking in animals for a number of decades, and now works with the Environmental Ministry. 

The zoo's property is considerable...but again, with new arrivals weekly, it's hard to keep up. 

Incredible: a Cock-of-the-Rock, taken from trafficking. So sad. 

Tarqui's quarantine needs LOTS of work. Fabian is currently puzzling over how to accomplish this with the owner...

A stress relieving hill.
What a simply wonderful thing: a grassy incline to roll down. For the whole family (including the dog). 

"We're not pets." Sign above the monkey exhibit. 

Incredibly sad: Penguins sold in the local market a decade back, taken from the Galapagos. 

Organic strawberries from Mazan on the car ride home while we discussed future plans. 

The take-away messages here?

Animal trafficking is a HUGE problem down here, and it isn't getting any better.

Education programs for the public (schools, pet-sellers, and the traffickers themselves) are long overdue.

It's up to the ones who have ideas about how to stop it to secure the support for programs to control and prevent it, because government funding is not forthcoming.

I definitely want to work with Fabian on his projects in the future. If we could start to slow the arrivals at Amaru, and decrease the amount of animals that are caught and sold as pets in this country, we could help prevent both an ecological (as animals that play important ecosystem roles are taken from their habitats) and health crisis (as people are exposed to wild animal diseases in rescue centers, homes, and markets).

Education is the first step...and unfortunately, to get a program going, we need support we don't have.

More to come on the state of animal trafficking in future posts.

Cheers.