Napo Wildlife Center in Yasuni National Park: World-class indigenous tourism guards biosphere reserve

Napo Wildlife Center in Yasuni National Park: World-class indigenous tourism guards biosphere reserve

Napo Wildlife Center Ecolodge has been carefully built and designed by the Añangu indigenous community to offer tourists maximum privacy and comfort in Amazon Wildlife Tours. Luxury rooms and commodities, first class attention, beautiful views of the jungle and the lake, nature within your reach… it is a real paradise for nature lovers, eco-travellers, and adventure seekers. Located in Yasuni National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, the Napo Wildlife Center is considered one of the best eco-hotels in the world and a beautiful example of Linking Tourism and Conservation, where tourism supports a protected area. The Añangu community has been recognized worldwide for its conservation of the flora and fauna found in this region. Yasuni National Park has been declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

The Añangu community, within the Yasuni National Park and hosted by Napo Wildlife Center, has been nationally and internationally recognized for their conservation and environmentally friendly work. The commitment of the whole community has meant that hunting, fishing and timber collection are now prohibited in this area. All activities are now focused on the protection of the environment. As evidence of the rich biodiversity inside Yasuní National Park nearly 4,000 species of plants have been recorded, with the possibility that this number will increase. A scientific report prepared for Yasuní registered 173 species of mammals (80 species of bats), 567 species of birds, 105 species of amphibians, 83 species of reptiles, 382 species of fish and more than 100,000 species of insects. The Anangu Kichwa community built the Napo Wildlife Center Ecolodge which borders the Añangucocha lagoon. The hotel opened to tourists in 2004. During the consolidation of the ecotourism project in mid-2007, the people of the Anangu community achieved became the sole administrators and managers of the Napo Wildlife Center. This hotel is visited by 3,000 tourists a year, most of them from Europe and the United States. Each group has a community guide and a professional naturalist guide translator able to provide information in the language of the tourist group. Without doubt, the main attraction of NWC is the incredible diversity of plants, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles living in this important area. The decision of the Community to concentrate on tourism and conservation has had benefits for our community. Historically, the level of education in the population has been low: only 46% of the population had completed primary education, while 26% had not completed secondary education. The community assumed the project of encouraging continued education, thus preventing migration away from the community and increasing opportunities for the future. From here the community managed to increase high school attendance, and 2012 saw the first class graduate in sustainable technology baccalaureate with the main objective of sustainable community tourism. 50% of students belong to neighbour communities and the other 50% belong to Anangu community. The overall number of students is 136, including coast native pupils, Ssecoyas, Kichwa, etc. Education is free, covered mostly by the state, and supported also by the community.

Currently, the Kichwa Community Añangu has several projects, developing attractive activities for the visitors, enhancing their Amazon experience.

Currently, our General Manager, Jiovanny Rivadeneira, runs seminars for other indigenous associations sharing the Community’s experience on how the tourism project developed, in order to encourage replication of the success of the Napo Wildlife Center in other areas, and thereby highlighting the successful link between our conservation activities and sustainable tourism.

Make a donation

We are grateful that you support the work and mission of LT&C! We accept donations through Credit Card, PayPal or international bank transfer:

Alternative 1: Donate through Credit Card:

Alternative 2: Donate through PayPal (amount in Euro):

Please click the Donate button and then choose your PayPal account

Alternative 3: Donate through international bank transfer

Bank details:
Cultura Sparebank
Pb. 6800, St. Olavs plass
N-0130 Oslo

Name: Linking Tourism & Conservation,
Account no.: 1254 05 95168
IBAN: NO8712540595168
BIC/SWIFT: CULTNOK1
Routing BIC: DNBANOKK

Please mark payments with your name and/or email address

Sign up now

Sign up for an LT&C membership by filling in the details below.

Add your LT&C-Example

Would you like your LT&C-Example/Initiative to be listed on our website? Please fill in the form below.

  • Would you like your LT&C example/initiative to be listed on our website? Please fill in the form below.
  • Please tell us about your LT&C example/initiative and how it fits with Linking Tourism & Conservation (LT&C)
  • Please elaborate on the following topics:
    a) Political/management support
    b) Financial support
    c) Educational support
  • Website with more information on the LT&C example/initiative
  • Please leave your contact details so that we can get in touch with you. This information will not be displayed on our website unless you ask us to.
  • By submitting this form you accept our current LT&C Privacy policy and that we may store and manage your contact information and that we may use the submitted material on our website.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.