‘UKU’, the game designed by a retiree to spread and care for Ecuador’s biodiversity

‘UKU’ (deep, in Quechua) is the name of this mnemonic game that rescues ancestral identity and makes known the richness of the flora and fauna of the Andean country.

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70 years old, García researched ancestral topics with the support of the Mindalae museum and made cards about the Pasto (Andes), Valdivia (Costa) and Quijos (Amazon) cultures with 20 pairs of full-color images to play between two or more people.

The project – started with a deceased friend and continued with her husband and daughter – was expanded to new proposals, such as the collection dedicated to the 20 highest mountains in Ecuador, accompanied by a brochure with data on each elevation, such as Chimborazo which, with 6,263 meters of altitude, is the point on the planet closest to the sun.

Giant in biodiversity

“Ecuador is equivalent to 1.4% of the combined surface area of ​​the United States and Western Europe,” but in its small area, it is among the most biodiverse in the world, remember in the collection dedicated to hummingbirds, of which the Andean country has 133 species, while in the United States “there are only 15,” notes this retired architect.

García expanded the themes of the game as life put situations or people in his way. The section on the birds of the Amazon, with the corresponding information, arose from the support of a foreigner who had a book of the 50 most emblematic birds of the region.

Others – like the photographer Jorge Anhalzer – voluntarily joined his knowledge crusade, since his efforts in search of state support did not prosper. “The only thing I had were my retirement funds,” he tells EFE, saying that he is making progress “little by little, a job like an ant.”

And it has done so in 14 collections of frogs, butterflies, orchids, bromeliads and archaeological pieces from the pre-Inca Jama-Coaque culture, among others, such as the one dedicated to the mukawas, vessels painted with brushes made of hair, where each stroke keeps the memory of the Kichwa indigenous people.

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Still pending is a collection on species from the Galapagos Islands, with reef fish, and in mind he also has a series of native plants and another on moths, many of which “are prettier than some butterflies,” he says.

Disconnect to connect

Although the essence of the game is to raise awareness by combining playfulness with environmental and cultural education, García also seeks to “disconnect people” from so much technology and promote a reunion between families, friends or acquaintances. The game, suitable for all ages, allows “a lot of interaction with the family, older people with children, and that gives greater enjoyment,” he comments.

The game is for sale, but the business is not the focus of its initiative. “I try to donate to schools, public libraries where I could have the greatest impact,” among “people who have no chance to travel or know where they find” this biodiversity, he says.

But with ‘UKU’, García has not only gotten people to know or recognize species, but he has awakened the spirit of adventure because there are those who, after playing with the tiles, have undertaken trips to discover in person the sites that appear there.