Road construction plays a significant role in that deforestation, both directly and indirectly: A study of 332 Indigenous lands in the Amazon published in June found for every mile of road built unofficially (such as for illegal mining), about 14 acres of forest are lost. Since the turn of the century, Ecuador has lost about 2.3 million acres of tree cover, which is about 5% of its previous total and larger in size than Yellowstone National Park, according to Global Forest Watch, an independent monitor. The project, set up by the Ecuadorian nonprofit Kara Solar and staffed on the ground by Achuar people, is a showcase for sustainable infrastructure development in the Amazon rainforest, an ecosystem that is quickly disappearing amid road-building and development. The project is run on the ground exclusively by Indigenous people. Luciano Peas, a 27-year-old Indigenous boat driver from the village of Sharamentsa, steers one of the solar-powered canoes. It's more natural and it doesn't destroy our forest." "So we travel by river, like our ancestors did. "We don't have roads here," says Nela Atamait, a teacher accompanying the kids on their way downstream to a high school in the village of Wichimi. And the fuel that powers their vessel – a large canoe with a roof of glossy black panels – is the fierce tropical sun. It winds through pristine jungle deep into the Ecuadorian Amazon. Their highway is the Rio Wichimi, a chocolatey brown river lined with towering, parrot-filled trees. Around a dozen girls and boys, wearing backpacks and carrying notepads in hand, hop down the muddy river bank and into the boat that provides their daily transport. Shortly after sunrise, the students of Barrio San Luis begin their school run. ![]() The nonprofit Kara Solar has helped fund a fleet of six sun-powered craft in hopes of benefitting the Indigenous Achuar while reducing pressure to build roads in the rainforest. ![]() Achuar people ply the Rio Wichimi in a solar canoe.
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