Having started his
career in 1969
as a project officer of the IYF (now
YEE), he
dedicated his life to the conservation of nature and is among the world's most senior
conservation ecologists. Besides English, Daan speaks, Dutch, Afrikaans, German,
French, Spanish and Portuguese; he has traveled to 80+ countries, many in the
context of his work in service of conservation. His slogan:
CONSERVATIONISTS NEVER GIVE UP!
parks tours. Little known to Ecuadorians, he
was part of the
United
Nations team that selected the first
39 protected areas of Ecuador,
now
51. Yasuní
and Cuyabeno were his prime selections for the Amazon Region of
Ecuador, the latter of which he he later recommended to be expanded
from originally 150,000ha to 600,000ha, together with then Cuyabeno
director Prof. Dr. Flavio Coello
and Parks and Tribes partner. Daan is also the founding father of
the Cuyabeno Lodge and co-manager of the
Cofan Lodge,
owned by Randy Borman MSc
and his son Felipe.
Having started ecotourism
in 1985 with the Cuyabeno Lodge, he has been the pioneer of ecotourism in
ecuador, long before other tour operators became involved, and he has
single-handedly, initiated ecotourism in the northern part of Cuyabeno.
As a national parks
conservation expert, Daan has been extremely worried about national parks being
underutilized, and thereby lack political interest, which often results in an
area being invaded and destroyed. He decided to dedicate the last years of his
professional life to the development of national parks tours. After all, with
his knowledge of national parks, his broad travel experience and his 30+ year of
experience in the ecotourism business, who has more experience in developing
great tours to national parks? Read more about his national parks tours in many
countries of the world:
https://nationalparks-worldwide.com
Prof. Dr. Flavio Coello
Prof.
Dr. Flavio Coello was the first director of the Cuyabeno Wildlife
Reserve in the early 80s. When the reserve became invaded by
smallholder farmers from the Andes, he contacted his friend
Parks Man Daan
Vreugdenhil, then in the Netherlands, to help solve the problem.
Together they assessed the situation and advised the government to
eliminate the invaded area of the then 150,000 ha reserve, and at
the same time expand the area all the way to the border with Peru,
growing it to 600,000 ha. Flavio lobbied hard to get the proposal
agreed and carried out all the procedures for legal approval of the
proposal. As the
area had no ecotourism to speak off, the 2 friends facilitated the
construction of the
Cuyabeno Lodge, of which Daan was the founding father.
Later,
Flavio became professor at the Catholic Univercity in Quito (PUCE),
where is his still teaching Ecotourism and Protected Areas Planning.
Few people in Ecuador know the protected areas of the country like
Flavio, and with his broad knowledge of ecotourism, he is the ideal
partner of Parks and Tribes. Loved by his students for his knowledge
of nature and charming humor, Flavio has helped countless young
Ecuadorians to a fulfilling professional life.
Randy
Borman MSc.
Randy
Borman MSc. is a full member of the Cofan Nation (tribe). Son of a
missionary couple he grew up in the Cofan village in the 60s and 70s
thus naturally absorbing the Cofan way of life. He married his Cofan
sweetheart, Amelia Quenama de Borman, and they have 2 sons and a
daughter, all of whom speak Cofan, Spanish and English fluently.
With his American University training he could liaison with
international traditional rights movements and communicate with government
institutions. By 1980 he had initiated ecotourism along the Aguarico River and
by 2015 he had built the Cofan lodge, which he runs with his son
Felipe.
He has led a great deal of scientific biological research
teams in the Northern Amazon Region. With his knowledge of both the
Amazon Indian culture and nature, he is the most knowledgeable
person in all Ecuador to have along on a Cuyabeno expedition.
PARKS
AND TRIBES
