Monthly Archives: January 2019

Nature and Culture International plays leading role in protecting cultural and biodiversity in an area rapidly losing its forests.

Nature and Culture International celebrates the creation of a new protected area linking the Andes Mountains with the Ecuadorian Amazon. Huamboya Municipal Conservation Area safeguards priority ecosystems and cultural diversity in central Ecuador, adding to a network of protected areas in the region spanning 7.5 million acres.

Huamboya protects 103,082 acres of sub-tropical montane forest* along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. In recent years, this region has suffered extensive deforestation due to agricultural development – an estimated 47 percent of the Huamboya Municipality has been converted to pasture and croplands. This new area eliminates a significant unprotected gap between Sangay National Park and other protected areas, namely Pastaza Provincial Reserve and Río Upano Municipal Conservation Area.

*Sub-tropical montane forest is a major natural habitat found in the Andean region, occurring in a zone from about 1,200 to 2,400 m. It serves as an important bird habitat.

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.