Sanctuary of Waterfalls and Wildlife Reserve

The project site falls within the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot and the Llanganates-Sangay Corridor Key Biodiversity Area.

The Llanganates-Sangay Corridor in eastern Ecuador contains an exceptional diversity of highly threatened species. Among these are several which, until recently, were unknown to science. These include the Critically Endangered and endemic Punzan Rainfrog, first discovered by our partner Fundación EcoMinga (EcoMinga) in 2014.

Despite its global conservation importance, this region is under threat from deforestation and illegal hunting. This project will contribute to our partner EcoMinga’s wider efforts to expand their 80-hectare (198-acre) Sanctuary of Waterfalls and Wildlife Reserve by an additional 485 hectares (1,198 acres). These efforts will not only safeguard precious habitats such as montane forest, páramo grassland, and waterfalls – but will also create new connections between these two reserves and the wider Sangay National Park. The reserve will also be monitored by EcoMinga’s reserve rangers and with camera traps, thus reducing illegal hunting within the reserves.