Ecuadorian ecotourism efforts awarded

[United Press International]

QUITO, Ecuador, May 6 (UPI) -- The Chair of the
IberoAmerican Foundation at the University of the Balearic Islands
has awarded Ecuadorian researchers first prize for their work on
ecotourism.
El Comercio of Quito said the winning project looks at the
ways ecotourism can be an alternative enterprise in the Ecuadorian
Amazon. The prize was $11,000 and went to researchers Fander Falconi
and Juan Ponce of Quito's Latin American Faculty of Social Science.
The Chair of the IberoAmerican Foundation also awarded
$3,000 to Brazilian researchers for a project about adolescence,
youth, and the family support necessary to avoid youth violence. An
Argentine project on business management in the micro-region of
Lujan-Maipu also received $3,000.
In awarding the Quito researchers first prize Wednesday the
jury said: "The project shows a great respect for the cultural
diversity in the community. The indigenous participants in the
strategy will be able to create their own social welfare from their
own resources."