An Imaginary Island

The Jambelí archipelago is a group of five islands on the southern coast of Ecuador, it is a rural parish (province of El Oro) named after a pre-Hispanic culture that settled there between 500 BC and 500 AD. The parish is made up of diverse marine ecosystems, mangroves and dry forest; its islands constitute a natural barrier that protects the coasts of Puerto Bolívar (the second most important port in the country).

Its beaches are a tourist attraction and the major economic livelihood of its inhabitants, which after the pandemic has been severely affected.

Contrary to demographic forecasts, its population has decreased drastically in the last 10 years due to the strong waves that destroy the buildings and the rising sea level that is "eating" the islands, which causes many people to decide to leave, on the other hand there is exploitation by shrimp companies, which represents a major environmental problem for the area by the destruction of the mangrove.

Jambelí is the favorite place of my childhood, although the motivation of the project comes from subjective and emotional factors, these are linked to social, cultural and environmental factors to know the problems that currently besiege the island. The Jambelí I knew in the 90's does not exist today, that memory is that of An Imaginary Island; in the case of being able to access this grant I will be able to tour the archipelago and discover vestiges of that past that seemed to be promising, but I will also be able to make visible the problems suffered by its ecosystems and above all I will be able to narrate the resilience of its inhabitants and what they have done to contribute to the rescue of the islands, how they survive and take care of their home.

There is little public and updated information and documentation in relation to the rural parish of Jambelí, for many years the (informal) denomination of "satellite parish" has created a phantom imaginary of this town; most Ecuadorians have the tourist reference of the islands but we are totally unaware of its history, problems and particular needs and at the same time far from the reality of other nearby towns; this project is an opportunity to contribute to the construction of a different imaginary.