QUITO, ECUADOR – Raul*, a biologist from Quito, has been leading conservation projects in the Chocó rainforest in north-east Ecuador for more than 20 years. It has not been easy, he says, recalling the threats he has received over the years for reporting illegal hunters and loggers in reserves, but he never considered giving up.
Last year, however, tensions in the area escalated after violence soared on the country’s coast. Accounts of almost daily killings in the cities of Esmeraldas and Guayaquil emerged as gangs appeared to fight over territory, while forced recruitment in rural areas increased, as did extortions, known locally as vacunas, or vaccines.
Last August, while attending meetings in Quito, the capital, Raul received a phone call from colleagues in the Chocó. They had heard that a local gang planned to kidnap him the next time he went to the territory, hoping to get money and information – or else.
“They simply said: ‘They’re going to kidnap you tomorrow. Don’t come in,’” says Raul, who asked for his real name not to be used as he still fears for his safety. “When you get news like that, it makes my blood run cold.”
Raul did not return to the Chocó for months, but when he finally went back, he did not share his travel plans with anyone and tried to be as discreet as possible. “I don’t think we’re prepared to deal with this kind of thing,” he says. “At least, I’m not.”
Raul’s story highlights the struggles of many scientists in Ecuador who are conducting fieldwork with diverse populations and critical ecosystems in a country facing a growing security crisis.
Amid a presidential campaign where the incumbent, Daniel Noboa, is up for re-election, security remains a pressing issue in Ecuador. Like El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, the Ecuadorian leader has launched a crackdown on crime – a move that has drawn criticism for human rights abuses. However, his initiative has not yet effectively addressed the country’s crime problem.
In the past four years, Ecuador’s murder rate has risen nearly sixfold, and it is now considered one of the most violent countries in the region.
As fieldwork in remote rural areas gets more dangerous, scientists fear they may be forced to abandon projects, leaving vulnerable ecosystems at risk and communities isolated.
Javier Robayo, director of the local conservation foundation EcoMinga, has worked in the Chocó rainforest for 12 years since they created the Dracula reserve along Ecuador’s northern border with Colombia. He says the border region has always been controlled by armed groups, notably Colombia’s Farc guerrillas, before they laid down their arms after the 2016 peace accords, followed by precarious talks with the ELN guerrilla group (which have since broken down). Yet that has never affected their work until now.
Today, these armed groups have become fragmented, while other gangs have emerged, all vying for control of illegal goldmining in the region. Robayo has reported some of this mining to the authorities, but local officials told him they were unable to stop it. “If we do anything, they come and kill us,” he was told.
Kimberley Michelle Brown 