Jocotoco Foundation Protects 19 Ecuador Reserves After 1997 Bird Discovery Sparked Conservation Drive
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 13
Jocotoco Foundation Protects 19 Ecuador Reserves After 1997 Bird Discovery Sparked Conservation Drive
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 13
Summary
Nineteen reserves now anchor the Jocotoco Foundation’s conservation network in Ecuador, a project launched after the 1997 discovery of the jocotoco antpitta exposed an urgent need to protect its habitat.
About 50,000 hectares are directly protected and another 82,000 hectares are managed with private and communal owners, covering sites that hold more than 1,350 bird species—80% of Ecuador’s total.
Local rangers, habitat restoration and monitoring tools such as camera traps and audio recorders underpin the model, while ecotourism and reserve jobs tie nearby communities to the protection effort.
A recent Canandé study found restored land recovered 90% of animal biomass and 90% of species richness within 30 years, with 75% of old-growth forest species returning.
The foundation’s work is being cast as a rare global conservation success story, especially as US government funding for overseas conservation projects has been pulled back under President Trump.