{"id":111,"date":"2018-02-13T12:23:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T17:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bridge160.qodeinteractive.com\/?page_id=111"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T21:52:21","slug":"quienes-somos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/who-we-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Who we are"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Zanja Arajuno Ecological Center<\/h2>\n

Somos una familia andino-amaz\u00f3nica que mediante autogesti\u00f3n cuida una porci\u00f3n del planeta para mostrar que es posible una vida m\u00e1s equilibrada, en respeto y armon\u00eda con la naturaleza mediante la participaci\u00f3n comunitaria.\u00a0Zanja Arajuno es un centro ecol\u00f3gico que trabaja 100% por autogesti\u00f3n en investigaci\u00f3n, voluntariado y educaci\u00f3n ambiental, conformado por un grupo multidisciplinario de profesionales ligados a la conservaci\u00f3n de la Amazonia.<\/p>\n

This is a 52-hectare private ecological reserve located in the upper Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t

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Medardo Tapia Rom\u00e1n (Founder)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Born in Riobamba on August 28, 1955, he is an outstanding figure in the protection of the Amazonian ecosystem. An agronomist by training, his vision with the wanduk (floripondio), a natural medicine, led him to move to Pastaza in 1983, where he joined the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP) and directed the Technological Center of Amazonian Resources, known as \"Centro Fatima\". His commitment to the indigenous cause was reflected in his participation in movements such as the historic Allpamanda, Kawsaymanada, Jatarishun march in 1992. Recognized with the National Ecological Merit Award in 1994, in 2007 he founded the Zanja Arajuno Ecological Center, a conservation sanctuary for wildlife reintroduction and habitat restoration in the upper Amazon. His legacy includes writing books and manuals on wildlife resource management and lecturing nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div> \n\t

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Lucero Mora Mu\u00f1oz (Director)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graduated from the National University of Colombia as a Zootechnician in 2003, Nubia Lucero has dedicated her life to understanding and protecting the delicate ecosystems of the rainforest. From her time at the Fatima Center for the Rehabilitation and Rescue of Wild Animals to her leadership of the Zanja Arajuno Ecological Center, her work has been a combination of caring, research and learning. Over the years, she has worked on rehabilitation and reintroduction projects for endangered species, as well as environmental education programs for local communities and visitors. As founder and director of community theater groups, she has used art as a powerful tool to convey messages of conservation and social change. Her recent work focuses on coordinating volunteers for the citizen biodiversity census in alliance with Fundaci\u00f3n Despierta and Planete Urgence (2022-2025), managing the Sachateca Yachay Wasi Community Library (2025), and facilitating workshops on ecology, biodiversity, environmental issues, territorial defense, and community conservation strategies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Alejandra Tapia Arias (\"Chancellor of the People\")<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arts and biodiversity communicator. Amazonian-Andean. University teacher. Due to her profession in organizational communication, she has designed and executed projects and initiatives with community participation for Zanja Arajuno, articulating and coordinating teams, investigating real needs according to changing contexts and optimizing communication tools and flows, which can be seen in her work in the field of communication. master's thesis<\/a>dedicated to the \"fauna\" (animal and urban) of Zanja Arajuno. As a result of this practice (always collective), Zanja Arajuno has cooperation networks with new organizations, presence in networks, web page and several campaigns, today led by Lucerito. Her passion for the arts has also linked the work of environmental education for social change in rural, indigenous and urban communities and academic spaces. Currently, she is in charge of public relations with cooperation organizations and sustainability strategies for the reserve. Zanja Arajuno continues to be her living and dialectical laboratory of teaching-learning for the construction of collective dreams.<\/p>\n

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David Tapia Mora (gu\u00eda y productor musical)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Young Amazonian who has grown up surrounded by nature, which has instilled in him a deep love and respect for all living beings. Passionate about music and art in general, he is called \"Cabo Pensamiento\", <\/strong>\u00a0uses these forms of expression to share her ideas about her way of interpreting the world, with the intention of awakening people's conscience. He is currently studying communication with the aim of using his profession as a tool to promote environmental care and social struggle. He is also a fervent hip hop enthusiast and seeks to elevate this genre, distancing it from the stigma of the capitalist world and highlighting its true origins. His commitment to hip hop also manifests itself in its social and educational dimension, using this culture as a means of communication to warn about society's problems. In Zanja Arajuno, he contributes by accompanying visitors and explaining the interactions within the jungle, highlighting the importance of conservation and respect for nature.<\/p>\n

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Andr\u00e9s Tapia Arias (Biologist-communicator)<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a biologist, he promoted the first research initiatives of endemic species of Zanja Arajuno, contact with Universities, Institutions, Organizations, professors and experts. One of the most memorable was the visit of Jeff Corvin (+) from Animal Planet. He has studies and researches on the Ecuadorian Amazonian biodiversity, his works in laboratory and field with the Amazonian and Andean tapir stand out, being part of the network of specialists of this species. He has participated as an expert in seminars and workshops in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, United States, Sweden and Latin America. He has also worked in monitoring initiatives and local life plans with indigenous peoples.
\nAs a communicator, his militant and sustained work as a communication leader of Confeniae, achieved the formation of the team of community communicators Lanceros digitales and La Voz de la Confeniae, developing cooperation projects to provide communities with UHF radio frequencies, in addition to advocacy campaigns at the international level for the protection of the Amazon. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in communication in Mexico. He has published scientific articles, reports and books in the fields of communication and biology. Together with Yanda Montawano, he is co-director of the documentary \"Allpamanda\", with which they have received merits and awards in various film festivals around the world.<\/p>\n

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Our history<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Centro Ecol\u00f3gico Zanja Arajuno Somos una familia andino-amaz\u00f3nica que mediante autogesti\u00f3n cuida una porci\u00f3n del planeta para mostrar que es posible una vida m\u00e1s equilibrada, en respeto y armon\u00eda con la naturaleza mediante la participaci\u00f3n comunitaria.\u00a0Zanja Arajuno es un centro ecol\u00f3gico que trabaja 100% por...","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full_width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-111","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":124,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1790,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111\/revisions\/1790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanjarajuno.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}