Tackling difficult issues : lessons from research in Ecuador

This article summarises some lessons learnt from a project that examined how to pursue a conservation strategy of Amazon Ecuador by working with local communities living in the area. It provides a background for the project, and discusses how those implementing the conservation strategy gained the confidence of the local communities and overcame the methodological problems they encountered. Nuturing community relations and building trust were deemed crucial for gaining a better understanding of pressing issues, and for generating more practical management recommendations.