Shrimp - Ecuador Community Tour Our first stop during the Ecuador tour is a community called San Lorenzo. A prominent activist in San Lorenzo is Genaro Alfonso Perea Sanchez. Genaro is a community leader who has, for years, fought against the installation of shrimp farms close to his native lands. When asked to tell us his story, he becomes quite passionate and emotional. Genaro is 44 years old and the father of six.

Ecuador Community Tour - Introduction

"I started working to save the mangroves by forming small groups in the communities to save the tradition of artesenal fishing. I began doing this in 1985 - to save the ocean and the mangroves-because I was then a fisherman and I was no longer earning a profit to support my family. I am a very poor man and have a large family. There are eight of us in my home.

"So, first some community members and I formed a co-operative of artesenal fishermen. There were 27 of us then. Our co-op was called Ancon de Sardinia, but we never got the support from government and institutions that we needed. It was then that I realised that what I needed to do was save the mangroves at all cost, because the mangroves are the only source of richness. The shrimp industry was invading our country, our lands.

"The shrimp farmers were coming to destroy our source of sustenance. For generations, the mangrove has been a vital part of my people. My father would always tell me to never sell my land, because they were what would help me survive. I never imagined how wise his words would be. Today, that advise holds true, more than ever. The shrimp farmers come and convince local people to sell their mangrove properties for pennies. And when the pennies are gone, so are the mangroves and you have nothing left to eat.

"Working with the local groups I have had the opportunity to be a volunteer for the defence of the mangroves, not for profit, but in the interest of all.

"We are African descendants and Africans adore the forests like they do their mother. We have never been destructive. We gather the products that the mangrove forests and the seas give us. Together, if we maintain our organisation, and keep our black identity we will triumph. We are not vagrants. It really upsets me when I hear people say that blacks are lazy. We are working very hard to keep our traditional way of life. We know how to manage and conserve our forests.

"My hope for the future is to stay in my place of origin, my home. I hope I never have the need to abandon my community. I would only leave if I found my families lives threatened because of my fight to defend our way of life. But I'm willing to give my life to save these lands. I need for my children and grand children to know the mangroves. I don't want mangroves to become a lost part of history. "Mangroves are the life of the peoples who have lived here throughout history. No company has ever generated resources for us to survive the way we deserve. The only one to give us all we need has been the mangrove forest. Without these forests we will not survive. The shrimp farmers must leave our homes at once."

Read more:
Shrimp - The Devastating Delicacy - An introduction
Ripped out at the Roots - The destruction of Mangrove forests.
Human Impacts - The effects of this lucrative export trade on local communities.
Don't Be 'Shellfish' - What Greenpeace is doing and what you can do.
Shrimp facts and figures
Photo Gallery