A Profile of Ecuador's Environmental Problems
and Possible Remedies
As part of its planning for development assistance
to Ecuador, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
engaged ESSA to prepare an environmental profile for Ecuador. In
close collaboration with another Canadian consultant and two Ecuadorian
environmental scientists, ESSA's project team:
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developed preliminary hypotheses concerning Ecuador's
major environmental problems based on discussions at CIDA and
an extensive literature review; |
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interviewed representatives from international
aid agencies, international banks, multi-sectoral non-government
organizations, public and private institutions, and community-based
groups in Ecuador for input used to explore and refine the initial
hypotheses; and |
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conducted a three-week mission to Ecuador to test
the hypotheses via field trips through southern Sierra, central
and northern Oriente, and southern and northern Costa. |
All findings were documented in a comprehensive
report that describes the environmental setting, analyzes the causes
of Ecuador's environmental problems, offers potential remedies for
those problems, and evaluates the country's underlying capacity
for environmental management. The report also includes a description
of the current environmental initiatives in Ecuador, identifies
options for CIDA to increase its effectiveness in addressing Ecuador's
environmental management problems, reviews current implementation
mechanisms, and assesses Canadian capabilities for implementing
the recommended program. The report, which was very well received
by CIDA, was used as a model for other environmental profile and
programming reports. A short follow-up study was conducted to develop
structures for integrated resource management for CIDA's Central
American Program.
