Nature and Culture International, as part of its alliance with the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy, is seeking to consolidate the 19,317-acre Cazaderos Reserve – an area of tropical deciduous forest in along the Peruvian border in southwestern Ecuador.

The reserve protects endangered tropical deciduous forest of major biodiversity importance, including some of the best remaining stands of the Tumbesian forest ecosystem of southwestern Ecuador and northern Peru. Tragically, these forests have been greatly reduced, and what little remains—barely 5% in Ecuador—is a top international conservation priority.

The Cazaderos forest is in excellent condition due to its remoteness, but this area is now threatened by increasing forest clearing for biofuels and other degradation activities. NCI plans to extend the protected area to cover 25,000 acres of this forest. We are partnering with the San Diego Zoo and the city of Solana Beach to raise funds for this effort.

This project is a vital piece of NCI’s integrated conservation strategy for this ecoregion, involving land purchase, reserve management, and community programs. NCI will support local communities in establishing their own natural reserve areas and placing government-owned forests under conservation management. Our work will help to form integrated habitat corridors that link the major areas of forest on both the Ecuadorian and Peruvian sides of this ecosystem.

NCI’s long-term vision is to construct large-scale ecosystem connectivity across southern Ecuador and northern Peru to safeguard this extraordinarily biodiverse ecosystem.

The Cazaderos region is an especially rich site within the unique dry forests of southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. These forests rank as one of the world’s highest biodiversity priorities due to two factors: the presence of numerous endemic species found only in this ecosystem, and the degree of threat, with 95% of this ecosystem already lost. Cazaderos is unique and precious in another respect: it is home to one of the highest concentrations of endemic bird species in South America—unusual for a non-rainforest area—and has 20% plant endemism.

This area of forest forms a corridor between the La Ceiba Reserve, nearby community reserves, and the Biosphere Reserve of Northwestern Peru. This connectivity is important for the survival of endemic flora and fauna that live in this isolated and small area.

The many animals that live in this area include the Mantled Howler Monkey, Peccary, and Boa constrictor, in addition to deer, pumas and many of the most threatened bird species of the region.