NCI´s conservation program focuses on Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse countries of the world that encompasses a wide range of natural formations and climates, from western mangrove forests and dry coastal forests to snow-capped Andean mountains, whose rain forest–covered eastern slopes descend into the Amazon basin. In addition to this geographic variety, Ecuador has one of the highest concentrations of species per square kilometer, a high percentage of endemism, and human communities with great cultural diversity and knowledge about these biological resources
Ecuador’s enormous natural diversity, however, is also one of the most threatened: the country is experiencing the highest rate of deforestation in Latin America, and its ancestral cultures are increasingly affected by global market changes, lack of appreciation and knowledge of the country’s natural resources, and nonexistent alternative and sustainable development.
Please donate now to help save the precious forest of Ecuador.
Andean Forests. NCI is working to conserve Andean cloud forests -- the world’s highest biodiversity priority, with the greatest number of endemic species. Due to their geography and climate, southern Ecuador and northern Peru are among the most diverse areas within this priority ecosystem, with numerous animal and plant species that live only in here. In 2007, NCI succeeded in gaining the declaration by UNESCO of 1 million hectares of Andean cloud forests as a biosphere reserve, in which we will extend our work with governments, communities, and the private sector to conserve the pristine forests of the Loja and Zamora regions, and local cultures.
Within this area, one of NCI’s major community efforts is within the Colambo-Yacuri Protected Forest of 76,000 hectares. A second effort is our intensive work with three indigenous Shuar communities to establish ancestral homelands and protect 40,000 acres of cloud forests as the Yacuambi Shuar Community Reserve. A third is land purchase of critical areas for biodiversity that have many rare and endangered species, including the purchase of 1,000 acres in the Numbala valley and 1,500 acres of elfin forest at El Tiro.
Tumbesian Dry Forest. This southwest Ecuadorian forest type, characterized by trees that lose their leaves during the dry season, is a high priority for conservation of biodiversity worldwide. The Tumbesian Region, where these forests are found, however, had received very little attention before NCI initiated activities in 2000. This cross-border geographic area contains about 250,000 acres of the best remnants of this threatened ecosystem, which is characterized by a large number of endemic species. A unique farming culture, based on goats that feed on dead or fallen leaves, depends largely on and supports protection of this forest.
Amazon regions of southern Ecuador. These regions present unique characteristics, due to their great biological diversity and ancestral cultures. Timberland, minerals, and other natural resources are exploited without any planning to reduce the impacts on the natural environment; for this reason, in 2006, NCI.
NCI reinforces processes of urban environmental management, territorial organization, and water source protection in these main cities of the region, such as the municipalities of Loja, Zamora and Celica.
NCI also operations the San Francisco Scientific Station, located within the cloud forests adjacent to Podocarpus National Park, where 17 German and Ecuadorian universities conduct one of the largest ecosystem studies worldwide, of tropical mountain forests.
