In December of 2006, Charlie Munn and the board of Tropical Nature began a campaign to take control of the Napo Wildlife Center, which at that time was owned by the Anangu Community and the EcoEcuador Foundation. At that time, Charlie Munn was the chairman of Tropical Nature, Rich Devane was the treasurer, and Daniel Blanco was secretary.
The Napo Wildlife Center had just won a major ecotourism award that dramatically raised its international profile. The board of the EcoEcuador Foundation believed that Tropical Nature's board was not content to leave the credit with the community and lodge project, but rather wanted the credit for themselves. In doing so, the EcoEcuador board believed that Tropical Nature was undermining the entire project and that it was not keeping the best interests of the community at heart. The board of EcoEcuador Foundation eventually voted to give all of the Foundation's equity in the Napo Wildlife Center to the community of Anangu.
Charlie Munn and Ethan Borg, who has presented himself alternately as Charlie's personal assistant and an employee of Tropical Nature, used strong-arm tactics to take managerial control of the lodge for a few months and the community reported that they kept all of the income of the lodge during that time. By May 2006 the Ecuadorian legal system had time to work, and Tropical Nature, Charlie, and Ethan were kicked out of the community and lodge management.
The chats below are snippets of the hundreds of pages of chats that Ethan Borg left behind when the community reclaimed their office equipment and records - it is an unusual opportunity to hear Munn and Borg in their own words. The chats discuss lies, contempt for donors and the indigenous community that the conservation project was designed to help, and acknowledgement that Tropical Nature owes back salaries to at least one previous employee.
Topics of the chat snippets |
– Charlie talks about tricking community supporters for his personal gain (chat transcript) |
| – Charlie shows his contempt for donors and the indigenous community. (chat transcript) |
– Charlie's hidden ownership of a travel agency in Ecuador. Odd reference to donations as "investments" (chat transcript) |
| – Charlie talks about a plan to defraud a past employee (chat transcript) |
| – Charlie and Ethan discuss using medication to bribe community members (chat transcript) |
| – Charlie talks about manipulating community members (chat transcript) |
- Charlie talks about his disdain for non-profits. (chat transcript) |
- more to come soon... |