Fundación EcoMinga is a conservation body dedicated to the protection of the unique foothill forests, cloud forests, and alpine grasslands (or páramo) of the Ecuadorian Andes, especially those on the edge of the Amazon Basin in east-central Ecuador and those on the super-wet western Andean slopes of the Chocó region in northwest Ecuador.
All EcoMinga reserves protect local centres of endemism that are not protected by Ecuador’s national parks or protected areas.
Ecuador is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. Despite covering just 0.2% of the Earth’s land area, it is home to an astonishing array of wildlife, including 10% of all plant species – around 4,600 of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Fundación EcoMinga was founded in 2005 by a concerned group of international scientists and conservationists, all dedicated to the ongoing protection of Ecuador’s remarkable biodiversity.
EcoMinga currently manage 10 reserves in the upper Río Pastaza watershed, an important biological corridor linking the northern and southern ranges of Ecuador’s eastern Andes. Since EcoMinga began working here, they and others have discovered close to 100 species, almost all of which are endemic to the watershed. Most of the reserves here adjoin national parks, which protect higher-elevation habitats; our partner extends protection down from 3,860m to 1,100m, elevations which are much more biodiverse but at the same time less protected.
EcoMinga also manage two other reserves in the Chocó region of northwest Ecuador: Dracula and Manduriacu. Both have been the site of important discoveries in recent years. One standout event occurred in 2020, when an entirely new rodent genus was described based on two separate species. Pattonimus ecominga was found in Dracula, while Pattonimus musseri was found in Manduriacu.
World Land Trust (WLT) and Fundación EcoMinga have been working together since 2007, with the first land purchase at the Cerro Candelaria Reserve taking place that year. This reserve forms a key part of the Llanganates-Sangay Corridor, a now contiguous network of protected areas that links two vast national parks to the north and south of the upper Río Pastaza watershed in east-central Ecuador.
EcoMinga rangers working in the Corridor have been supported through WLT’s Keepers of the Wild programme since 2011. These rangers patrol EcoMinga reserves and protect them from those seeking to exploit threatened wildlife and their habitats, like poachers and illegal loggers.
Cerro Candelaria
Rio Machay
Rio Manduriacu
Protection of Llanganates-Sangay corridor
Please see our Ecuador page.
