Nature and Culture International plays leading role in protecting wildlife, habitat and ecosystem services in an area rapidly losing its forests.
Nature and Culture International celebrates the declaration of Zamora Chinchipe Provincial Reserve in southern Ecuador. Zamora Chinchipe will protect 1,098,611 acres of forest, shrub and grasslands in a region threatened by rapid deforestation and burgeoning mining concessions, safeguarding wildlife and clean water for nearby communities.
Zamora Chinchipe lies within the Huancabamba Depression of the Andes, a transition zone from the humid north to the drier central Andes. Due to the area’s diversity of geological features and environmental conditions, the reserve harbors an enormous variety of habitats, from high-elevation páramos to lush foothill forests. Species abound including the red-faced parrot (Hapalopsittaca pyrrhops), endangered white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth) and vulnerable spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus). The province’s dramatic altitude changes encourage the evolution of diverse species and provide a critical escape valve for climate change – an upward migration path to cooler temperatures to help species survive as the Earth warms.