A group of young Indigenous Achuar are installing cameras, flying drones to 1,000 metres, capturing hundreds of photographs and videos, and mapping vulnerable spots along the Pastaza River, which flows through the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon into neighbouring Peru. They are Los Lanceros Digitales \u2013 \u201cthe digital lancers\u201d \u2013 who keep watch over this area, aiming to prevent loggers from returning in search of balsa trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo far we haven\u2019t found any loggers,\u201d explains Roberto Peas, the deputy coordinator of the group, an initiative<\/a> of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. \u201cThey know that everything is under surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a new way for Indigenous groups to exercise authority over this corner of the Amazon, and comes after the region experienced one of the harshest episodes in its recent history: the so-called \u201cbalsa fever\u201d. In the past decade, Ecuador has emerged as the world\u2019s top exporter<\/a> of balsa (Ochroma pyramidale<\/em>), with the majority of wood shipments making their way to China \u2013 where it is used, somewhat paradoxically, to build wind turbines for the transition to greener energy systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n