The Ecuador Rainforests
The Ecuador Rainforests Project helps safeguard diverse wildlife in an area where over 80% of the tropical rainforests have already been destroyed, leaving many species globally threatened.
Find out how the WLT is saving rainforests in Ecuador...
Project Aim
The Ecuador Rainforests project aims to purchase and protect some of Ecuador's most threatened and biodiverse forests for conservation and management by WLT's partners. The project protects critically important habitats for many of Ecuador's rarest bird species, as well as a wide variety of other animals such as Jaguar and Howler Monkey.
Partners:
Fundación Jocotoco »
Fundación EcoMinga »
Fundación Pro-Bosque »
Nature and Culture International (NCI) »
Other projects in Ecuador:
How the WLT is helping
WLT has already helped Fundación Jocotoco, Fundación EcoMinga and Fundación Pro-Bosque save thousands of acres of tropical forests and other vital habitats in Ecuador that are now protected as nature reserves. During 2011, WLT will be channeling Buy an Acre funds to another project partner in Ecuador: Nature and Culture International (NCI).
Urgent funding needed
In Ecuador, Buy an Acre funds are being channeled towards land purchase with project partner NCI. So far, during 2011, WLT and NCI have secured three properties in southern Ecuador, protecting Upper Amazonian Tropical Forest and Andean Cloud Forest. Funds are still needed to secure more of this threatened habitat.
Donate to this project »
Biodiversity
Birds:
Over 1,600 bird species, about 17% of the world's total including the Jocotoco Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi) discovered in 1997 in what is now the Tapichalaca reserve.
Mammals:
A wide variety, including Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), Woolly Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus didactylus), Jaguar (Panthera onca), Ocelot (Leopardis pardalis), Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) and many bats and monkey species.
Amphibians:
Over 400 amphibian species, including the Tapichalaca treefrog, a new species recently discovered on Fundacion Jocotoco’s Tapichalaca Reserve (purchased with the support of WLT).
Plants:
Well over 16,000 species of plants (25% of which are endemic), including 4,000 species of orchids.
Threats to Ecuador's forests
Very little intact habitat remains, perhaps as little as 10% in the Andean and western coastal provinces of Ecuador, due to relatively high human population density in this area. Ecuador's forests also contain large numbers of endemic species and many are globally threatened.
The reserves
Total acres supported by WLT: 14,412 acres (5833 ha)
With 4 different partners in Ecuador, WLT has funded many different reserves. Find out more about these reserves on our reserve pages:
Ecuador News
Learn more
Buenaventura Photos
Share this page:
Sir David Attenborough, WLT Patron
