--- title: Happy News From South America: Meet the “Turtle Women” Protecting the Ecuadorian Amazon's Most Vulnerable River Reptile description: On the banks of the Aguarico River in Ecuador's northern Amazon, seven Indigenous Siekopai women are quietly reshaping the odds for a species that has been declining for decades. They call themselves Tari Nomiowa’i, or “turtle women,” and their work pairs generations-old ecological knowledge with a smartphone app to give the vulnerable charapa turtle a fighting chance. image: https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hubfs/shutterstock_2634279333.jpg --- [![Avanti Destinations Logo](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png?width=100&height=63&name=Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png "Avanti Destinations Logo")](http://www.avantidestinations.com) [![Avanti Destinations Logo](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png?width=100&height=63&name=Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png "Avanti Destinations Logo")](http://www.avantidestinations.com) - [The Avanti Traveler](https://info.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Blog Homepage](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Avanti Podcast](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/avanti-podcast/the-avanti-podcast) - [Avanti Destinations](https://www.avantidestinations.com/home) - [Subscribe Now](https://share.hsforms.com/1FoJwsgeZQ366rRMQXb1RJQ158jk) search - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. [![Avanti Destinations Logo](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png?width=100&height=63&name=Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png "Avanti Destinations Logo")](http://www.avantidestinations.com) - [The Avanti Traveler](https://info.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Blog Homepage](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Avanti Podcast](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/avanti-podcast/the-avanti-podcast) - [Avanti Destinations](https://www.avantidestinations.com/home) - [Subscribe Now](https://share.hsforms.com/1FoJwsgeZQ366rRMQXb1RJQ158jk) ## [![Avanti Destinations Logo](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png?width=100&height=63&name=Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png "Avanti Destinations Logo")](http://www.avantidestinations.com) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/travel_avanti/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AvantiDestinations/) [Follow us on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@avantidestinations) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/avanti-destinations) [✕](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/happy-news-from-south-america-meet-the-turtle-women-protecting-the-ecuadorian-amazons-most-vulnerable-river-reptile#atbs-offcanvas-primary) - [The Avanti Traveler](https://info.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Blog Homepage](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Avanti Podcast](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/avanti-podcast/the-avanti-podcast) - [Avanti Destinations](https://www.avantidestinations.com/home) - [Subscribe Now](https://share.hsforms.com/1FoJwsgeZQ366rRMQXb1RJQ158jk) ![image](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hubfs/shutterstock_2634279333.jpg) [Amazon](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/amazon) [Ecuador](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/ecuador) [Amazonas](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/amazonas) [Yasuni National Park](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/yasuni-national-park) # Happy News From South America: Meet the “Turtle Women” Protecting the Ecuadorian Amazon's Most Vulnerable River Reptile By [Avanti Destinations](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/author/avanti-destinations) 12 Oct 2026 [Avanti Destinations](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/author/avanti-destinations) 12 Oct 2026 - - - On the banks of the Aguarico River in Ecuador's northern Amazon, seven Indigenous Siekopai women are quietly reshaping the odds for a species that has been declining for decades. They call themselves Tari Nomiowa’i, or “turtle women,” and their work pairs generations-old ecological knowledge with a smartphone app to give the vulnerable charapa turtle a fighting chance. A Species Under Pressure The charapa, or yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Its population has thinned for a mix of familiar and newer reasons: adult turtles hunted for meat, eggs harvested from nests before they can hatch, and rivers fouled by garbage, oil, and gasoline runoff. Boat traffic is wearing away at riverbanks, and climate change has pushed water levels higher, flooding the sandy flats where turtles lay their eggs in the first place. Beyond the numbers, the charapa carries real ecological weight. Researchers who study the species describe it as a seed disperser and a natural cleaner of the river system, a role that ripples outward to the fish, birds, and other wildlife that share its habitat. Patrols, Data, and a Skill Passed Down During nesting season, the Tari Nomiowa’i women walk the riverbanks looking for turtle tracks and nests. Janeth Piaguaje, a Siekopai community leader who helps lead the project, learned to read the signs from her own father. “He taught me how to handle the eggs, how to see on what dates and in what months the turtles lay their nests,” she said. When the women find a nest, they record the date, time, location, and number of eggs using Epicollect5, a mobile field-data app, before carefully moving the clutch to an incubation facility shielded from predators, flooding, and pollution. Once the eggs hatch, the women keep caring for the hatchlings for another month, feeding them cassava, sweet potato, and taro leaves before they are strong enough for release. The approach mirrors a broader shift happening across Ecuador's Amazon conservation efforts: pairing traditional ecological knowledge with structured, technology-assisted monitoring, so that what communities have always known about their rivers can also be measured, tracked, and built on over time. ![shutterstock\_2208150511](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_2208150511.jpg?width=500&height=281&name=shutterstock_2208150511.jpg) A Season's Worth of Results The work is slow and hands-on, but it adds up. Over the 2025-26 nesting season, the Tari Nomiowa’i collected 235 eggs and successfully hatched and released 208 hatchlings into the Aguarico River across March and April. The group made a point of opening the release to the wider community, inviting local schoolchildren to attend workshops and take part. “I'm going to take care of them, I'm going to tell them not to touch the eggs,” one little girl told Piaguaje after the event, a moment she still recalls. It's a pattern conservationists have seen play out elsewhere in the region, too: similar community-led charapa programs on the Napo and Tiputini rivers, running for close to two decades, have documented several-hundred-percent increases in turtle sightings since they began, evidence that sustained, locally-led monitoring can meaningfully bend the curve for a slow-recovering species. Culture at the Center of Conservation For the Tari Nomiowa’i, protecting the charapa isn't separate from Siekopai identity, it's an expression of it. In Siekopai tradition, turtles are understood as a link between the visible and spiritual worlds, swimming under the protection of Koouwajëo, the spiritual chief, mother, and ancestral guardian of the turtles. “I want Koouwajëo to be proud,” Piaguaje said. “When we protect turtles, we don't just care for a species; we honor the spirits of the river, strengthen our culture and maintain the sacred pact between our community and nature.” That framing matters for how the project is built: rather than treating conservation as something done to a landscape, it treats the Siekopai relationship with the river as the reason the work exists at all. ![shutterstock\_2685752431](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_2685752431.jpg?width=500&height=332&name=shutterstock_2685752431.jpg) Part of a Larger Push for a Connected Amazon The Aguarico River sits inside the newly designated [Yasuní-Limoncocha-Cuyabeno Connectivity Corridor](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/happy-news-from-south-america-ecuador-reconnects-one-of-its-richest-rainforest-corridors), roughly 173,000 hectares that Ecuador's Ministry of Environment and Energy formally recognized in mid-2026 to link Yasuní National Park, the Limoncocha Biological Reserve, and the Cuyabeno Wildlife Production Reserve. The corridor's stated design rests on three pillars: governance through Indigenous and local community participation, protection of natural heritage, and sustainable productive activity, and it explicitly names the charapa turtle among the flagship species the designation is meant to help. The corridor also formally recognizes something the Tari Nomiowa'i have been demonstrating on the ground for years: that Siekopai, Siona, and Kichwa communities along the Aguarico aren't incidental to conservation in this landscape, they're central to how it works. Visiting the Landscape the Turtle Women Protect ![sani-lodge-exterior](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/sani-lodge-exterior.webp?width=500&height=333&name=sani-lodge-exterior.webp) [**Sani Lodge**](https://book.avantidestinations.com/product_description?sourceid=st&utype=tc&stype=HTL&supid=ECHSNI&servid=ECHSNI&tgsupid=ECHSNI&tgservid=ECHSNI&title=Amazonas%20-%20Sani%20Lodge&extrainfo=N&internalinfo=N), on the Río Napo within Yasuní National Park itself, is unique among Ecuador's ecolodges for being entirely owned and operated by an Indigenous Kichwa community, one of the same Kichwa communities whose land now sits at the core of the new Yasuní-Limoncocha-Cuyabeno Connectivity Corridor. That corridor was designated in part to protect the charapa river turtle, and staying here means direct engagement with the same community-led conservation model driving turtle recovery work farther north along the Aguarico. ![](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Seperator-png-4.png?width=300&height=3&name=Seperator-png-4.png) ![napo-wildlife-center](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/napo-wildlife-center.jpg?width=500&height=278&name=napo-wildlife-center.jpg) [Napo Wildlife Center](https://book.avantidestinations.com/product_description?sourceid=st&utype=tc&stype=HTL&supid=AMRNAP&servid=AMRNAP&tgsupid=AMRNAP&tgservid=AMRNAP&title=Napo%20Wildlife%20Center%20Lodge&extrainfo=N&internalinfo=N), near Coca on the edge of Yasuní, offers private lakeside cabanas alongside canopy-tower birding, parrot clay licks, and visits with neighboring communities. The lodge sits inside the same connected forest system where Siekopai, Siona, and Kichwa communities are working to bring the vulnerable charapa turtle back from decline, an intimate way to experience one of the most intact remaining stretches of this river landscape. ![](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Seperator-png-4.png?width=300&height=3&name=Seperator-png-4.png) ![standard-double](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/standard-double.jpg?width=500&height=334&name=standard-double.jpg) [**Sacha Lodge**](https://book.avantidestinations.com/product_description?sourceid=st&utype=tc&stype=HTL&supid=AMRSCH&servid=AMRSCH&tgsupid=AMRSCH&tgservid=AMRSCH&title=Amazonas%20-%20Sacha%20Lodge&extrainfo=N&internalinfo=N), within its own 5,000-acre private reserve on the Napo River, is reached via a short flight from Quito followed by a canoe trip upriver. Canopy bridge walks, black-water lake swims, and a reserve recorded to hold hundreds of bird species sit alongside the same river system that sustains the charapa turtle, a species researchers describe as a seed disperser and natural cleaner of Amazon waterways. ![](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Seperator-png-4.png?width=300&height=3&name=Seperator-png-4.png) ![kuyana-amazon-lodge](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/kuyana-amazon-lodge.jpg?width=500&height=278&name=kuyana-amazon-lodge.jpg) [**Kuyana Amazon Lodge**](https://book.avantidestinations.com/product_description?sourceid=st&utype=tc&stype=HTL&supid=AMRKUY&servid=AMRKUY&tgsupid=AMRKUY&tgservid=AMRKUY&title=Amazonas%20-%20Kuyana%20Amazon%20Lodge&extrainfo=N&internalinfo=N), on the Hollín River roughly three and a half hours from Quito, provides an easier-to-reach gateway into the region's rainforest, built around sustainably sourced, community-supported hospitality. It reflects the same principle at the heart of the Aguarico's "turtle women" project: that Indigenous and local communities aren't incidental to conservation in this landscape, they're central to how it works. ![](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Seperator-png-4.png?width=300&height=3&name=Seperator-png-4.png) Together, these lodges make it possible to experience firsthand the landscape Ecuador's new corridor was created to protect, not as an untouched wilderness, but as a place where conservation and local communities can thrive side by side.     - [Amazon](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/amazon) - [Ecuador](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/ecuador) - [Amazonas](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/amazonas) - [Yasuni National Park](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/tag/yasuni-national-park) 0 [Avanti Destinations](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/author/avanti-destinations) [![image](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hubfs/shutterstock_2610948201%20(1).jpg)](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/get-cultured-museums-in-france-and-spain) [next](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/get-cultured-museums-in-france-and-spain) ### [Get Cultured! Museums in France and Spain](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/get-cultured-museums-in-france-and-spain) [![2025-2026 Go365 e-Brochure](https://content.avantidestinations.com/marketing/blog_banner_ads/2024/08212024-01-Go365-Campaign-eBrochureLink-TopAd-BlogBanner.png)](https://www.flipsnack.com/779977E569B/go365-travelyearround/full-view.html) [![Repeat Travel Benefit](https://content.avantidestinations.com/marketing/blog_banner_ads/2024/08212024-02-RepeatTraveler-Campaign-IncentivePDF-MiddleAd-BlogBanner.png)](https://book.avantidestinations.com/includes/downloads_flyers/Avanti_Promotion_Repeat_Traveler_Benefit.pdf) [![Last-Minute Europe Travel](https://content.avantidestinations.com/marketing/blog_banner_ads/2024/08212024-03-LastMinuteEuropeTravel-Campaign-WebEmailLink-BottomAd-BlogBanner.png)](https://news.avantidestinations.com/extend-summertime-bliss-with-avantis-last-minute-booking-line) [![Avanti Destinations Logo](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png?width=100&height=63&name=Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png "Avanti Destinations Logo")](http://www.avantidestinations.com) - [The Avanti Traveler](https://info.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Blog Homepage](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler) - [Avanti Podcast](https://blog.avantidestinations.com/avanti-podcast/the-avanti-podcast) - [Avanti Destinations](https://www.avantidestinations.com/home) - [Subscribe Now](https://share.hsforms.com/1FoJwsgeZQ366rRMQXb1RJQ158jk) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/travel_avanti/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AvantiDestinations/) [Follow us on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@avantidestinations) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/avanti-destinations) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Avanti Destinations", "url" : "https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/author/avanti-destinations" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-13T14:47:08.845Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-12T15:30:00.000Z", "headline" : "Happy News From South America: Meet the “Turtle Women” Protecting the Ecuadorian Amazon's Most Vulnerable River Reptile", "image" : [ "https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hubfs/shutterstock_2634279333.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.avantidestinations.com/the-avanti-traveler/happy-news-from-south-america-meet-the-turtle-women-protecting-the-ecuadorian-amazons-most-vulnerable-river-reptile", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.avantidestinations.com/hubfs/Avanti-Logo-Color-4.png" }, "name" : "Avanti Destinations" } } ```