Tulcán (Ecuador) (EFE).- The alpacas have returned to the mountains that separate Colombia and Ecuador thanks to a binational project that seeks to repopulate these border territories with one of the most emblematic camelids of the Andes.
Within the framework of this initiative, a binational convention on alpacas breeding was held last Friday between the two communities involved in the project, which is financed by the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), with a contribution of more than 55,000 dollars. of seed capital.
The meeting was held in the community of El Mirador de los Pastos, located on the Ecuadorian side and promoter of this project that has as a partner the Colombian indigenous reservation of Panama, whose members carried out demonstrations of raising
“The project was born from a proposal prepared by a group of young people from the community, based on the needs of the beneficiary communities,” said veterinarian Katy Pinduisaca, who is the director of this binational initiative.
The expert explained that there was no alpaca production in this area until the first specimens were brought in January, from the Ecuadorian provinces of Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, located in the Andean center of Ecuador.
First goal: 60 alpacas
The goal is for each of the communities, both of the indigenous people of the pastures, to have 30 specimens, a number that they hope to reach shortly, so that these camelids can later expand their presence on the border to other communes.
Currently in El Mirador de los Pastos there are twenty-four alpacas that graze on its land, while there are currently another 25 in Panama.
“We have been paving the way. We are implementing this breeding and we want to involve the ministries for the technical support that the project needs”, indicated Pinduisaca.
With the raising of alpacas, which involves 42 people between the two communities, its inhabitants also see an economic future encouraged by the production of wool, alpaca fiber and organic fertilizers to, in some way, change the matrix of cattle.
“We want to change what we see today populated by cows to alpacas, which unfortunately affect the soil,” said the veterinarian who directs the project.
Tourism, wool and handicrafts
They also have the ambition to promote a community tourism initiative around alpacas on the horizon, while the women of the Colombian indigenous reservation want to use the wool, highly valued abroad, to dedicate themselves to ancestral fabrics such as making ponchos and crafts.
This was commented by Nancy Estacio, one of the inhabitants of the reservation of Panama who participates in the project, very focused on recovering the uses and customs such as shearing and weaving and transmitting them to her children and other descendants.
“We hope that it will repopulate, that there will be more alpacas throughout our territory and that we will use the wool. Bags, scarves, hats and an infinity of things that can be made with wool”, named the farmer.
Despite the fact that it is his first experience with alpacas, Estacio pointed out that they are doing very well.
“We are getting to know the animals, which are very docile and very beautiful because they don’t need as much care as cows. They are wild but at the same time very docile ”, she assessed.
Fertilizer can also be obtained from alpacas, and thus generate biogas, recalled the coordinator of the El Mirador de los Pastos community, César Eduardo Iglesias.
“The idea is to repopulate the entire border area,” he added.
The vice president of the Andean Parliament, Ecuadorian Nancy Estacio, also participated in the convention, who pointed out the importance of this project for strengthening the community and sustainability.