Since the middle of the 1980s, our Indigenous community in Zabalo has depended largely on tourism. This was a conscious decision. We wanted to reduce our reliance on commercial farming, livestock and selling timber, because those activities placed increasing pressure on our territory.
I sometimes describe tourism as a legal way of taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor. I say it with a little humour, but there is a serious point behind it. Visitors have the means to travel here because they want to experience the rainforest and our culture. If tourism is organised properly, their spending can support our families while causing much less environmental damage than the economic activities it replaces.
Some people worry that presenting our culture to tourists means selling ourselves. I do not see it that way. The experience in Zabalo has often been the opposite.
Tourism does not have to make us sell our integrity. When we control it ourselves, it can make our identity stronger.
There was a time when many people in our community felt embarrassed to wear traditional clothing. They had learned to see it as old-fashioned or inferior. When tourists arrived, they showed genuine interest and appreciation. Their reaction helped some of us look again at what we had begun to reject. Today, traditional clothing is more visible than it was before.
Of course, outside interest can also become intrusive. To keep the influence of tourism from entering every corner of our lives, we built a museum and visitor centre on the other side of the river. It provides a clear meeting place where visitors can learn about us and families can sell souvenirs. This creates income while allowing the residential part of the community to remain more private.
Ten families have also formed a joint venture with a large tour operator. The project employs community members both directly and indirectly. It is not perfect, but it gives us a more active role than simply waiting for an outside company to decide when it needs labour.
Tourism has also strengthened our environmental planning. We have divided our territory into different zones. There are walking routes for visitors, hunting areas, places for traditional use and quiet zones that are largely left alone. This allows us to use the land in different ways without putting pressure everywhere at once.
Because of this system, wildlife remains visible. That is good for tourism, but more importantly, it means the forest continues to function as our home and as a living environment for future generations.
We do not protect the forest only because tourists want to see animals. We protect it because our future depends on a territory that remains alive.
We do not accept every proposal made in the name of tourism. At one point, there was a plan to build a small landing strip. It might have reduced boat traffic on the river, which sounded environmentally attractive at first. But it would also have made travel in and out of the area much more expensive for community members who now share canoes.
We rejected the proposal because the everyday cost to our people was too high. That decision shows why the community must remain in control. A project can look sustainable from the outside while creating new difficulties for the people who actually live here.
For me, the greatest opportunity created by tourism is education. It allows families to prepare their children for a future in which they will face oil exploration, colonisation and many other outside pressures. I grew up with experience of both our Indigenous world and the society beyond it. The next generation will also need the confidence and knowledge to move between those worlds without losing itself.
Tourism is useful to Zabalo because it gives us another way to defend our land, educate our children and remain ourselves—but only as long as the community decides where its limits lie.