Our History

A dream in defense of the Amazon

Zanja Arajuno has an accumulated experience of 25 years of working with wildlife as it is the continued dream of the former Centro Fatima, founded by Medardo Tapia and Ruth Arias, as an experimental center of the Polytechnic School of Chimborazo and later, a pioneer project of the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP) for the management, breeding and reproduction of Amazonian wild animals in a territory granted in commodatum by the Provincial Council of Pastaza. This agreement ended in 2012.

When he was 20 years old, Medardo Tapia had a vision while ingesting floripondio (wantuk) that showed him a man on his back leading various types of animals towards a giant tree, he looked like a shepherd. As a resident of Puyo he understood that his dream was the projection of his future life in defense of the Amazon. Medardo had heard from the elders or "taitas" that the Sacha Runa is the protective spirit of the animals and that is why he feels called to be their helper. As an agronomist, he would no longer take care of cows and sheep, but of wild species. This is how the relationship with OPIP came about.