Los Colobris Crafts Group: Empowering women and supporting sustainable development in the tropical cloud forests of western Ecuador in gender and tourism: Women's employment and participation in tourism

The artisan group Los Colibris (LC) was conceived in 1995 in the village of Santa Mariaruta, Ecuador, to offer locally made handicrafts for sale to tourists at the nearby Maquipucuna Reserve and to generate income for village families by providing artisan work to women. Overcoming traditional female roles where women did not work outside the home, the women of LC were able to organise, receive training, secure a grant from USAID for equipment, and produce and sell sustainable rainforest products with the help and support of resident Peace Corps volunteers and staff from Fundacion Maquipucuna (FM). FM is the NGO, which owns and manages the Maquipucuna Reserve and its ecotourism ventures. Key to LC's success was its evolution from an unstable, large group of 15-20 members down to a workable small group of five core members who respected each other. Addition-ally, LC women found that full-time work did not allow for the daily demands of child rearing, and instead settled into a rotational, part-time practice. The members tightly control distribution of profits and equity in sharing of costs. The success of this group inspired the formation of two further women's artisan groups, and secured a three-year training grant from the UK's National Lottery Charities Board.