Healing the Amazon Divide Guardians of the Intangible
The Tagaeri-Taromenane Intangible Zone (ZITT) was established in 1999 by the Ecuadorian government as a strictly protected area within Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Its purpose is to safeguard indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and preserve their territories. The zone covers approximately 758,000 hectares of tropical rainforest, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth.
Within the ZITT live the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples, two Waorani indigenous groups who maintain a traditional way of life and remain voluntarily isolated from Western society. Ecuador officially recognizes 14 indigenous peoples in isolation and initial contact, among a total of more than 17 indigenous peoples across the country.
The Waorani community of Bameno, located at the edge of the ZITT, has around 500 members and is one of the few communities that has recently begun to open to tourism, initiating a controlled and respectful interaction with visitors.
This territory and its peoples face enormous external pressures: oil extraction, illegal mining, deforestation, and natural resource exploitation threaten the integrity of the Amazon, endangering both the ecosystem and ancestral cultures. Economic interests often overlook indigenous rights and environmental conservation.
The legal barrier represented by the ZITT is a tool designed to protect these isolated peoples by restricting access and exploitation of their territory. However, this barrier also presents challenges: it limits intercultural dialogue and can become an obstacle to the active participation of the Bameno Waorani in decisions that affect them, as well as to the respectful exchange of knowledge with the outside world.
It is important to highlight that the Bameno Waorani have only had contact with Western society less than two decades ago, a relationship still unfolding that requires respect, care, and genuine support.
Our Response
At WTTW we propose a project that accompanies this meeting of worlds from a 100% bottom-up perspective, supporting the slow tourism led by the Waorani community of Bameno.
Our project involves:
- Creating a documentary that explores the complexity of this legal and cultural barrier, amplifying the voices of the isolated peoples, the Bameno Waorani, their ancestral guardians, and defenders of the land.
- Establishing a space for reciprocal knowledge exchange, where our multidisciplinary team (documentarians, doctors, yoga teachers, chiropractors, dentists, healers) learns from and shares with Waorani ancestral medicine.
- Promoting slow, respectful tourism that honors the times, cultures, and territories of the Waorani, generating sustainable economic opportunities and strengthening cultural autonomy.
- Supporting local initiatives that enhance environmental conservation and respect for territorial rights, accompanying community processes and fostering international visibility of the issue.
This project does not seek to impose but to serve as a bridge between two worlds coming together in harmony — learning from each other, healing historical wounds, and building a shared future grounded in reciprocity, respect, and care for Pachamama.
How can you help?
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- Logistics and travel costs for the documentary and professional teams to Bameno and the ZITT.
- Audiovisual equipment to respectfully and thoroughly document knowledge, stories, and landscapes.
- Fees for local guides, translators, and cultural facilitators from the Waorani community.
- Organizing workshops and gatherings for cultural and medicinal knowledge exchange.
- International awareness campaigns to highlight the ZITT, slow tourism, and the defense of indigenous and environmental rights.To make this vision a reality, we need USD 35,000 to cover:
“Protect and honor our ancestral guardians, the nature and shape a transformative future for all”