A History In Ecuador - Rainforest Trust Saves Rainforest

A HISTORY IN ECUADOR
For over 20 years, Rainforest Trust has been protecting the tropical forests of Ecuador. The threat of deforestation persists, and combined with climate change, the pressure to expand protection grows in urgency. To meet this, Rainforest Trust with our local Ecuadorian partners, has been expanding key reserves to ensure species survival.

View All Our Active Projects in Ecuador View All Our Protected Projects in Ecuador

TAPICHALACA RESERVE
PROTECTED ACRES: 4,428
ACRES IN PROGRESS: 1,419

In 1997, Rainforest Trust President Dr. Robert Ridgely discovered the Jocotoco Antpitta, an endangered and rare bird, in southern Ecuador. One year later, the Ecuadorian organization he founded to protect the bird, Fundación Jocotoco, and Rainforest Trust established the Tapichalaca Reserve to protect and manage a key location for this species. Situated in the eastern Andes, the reserve now spans over 9,000 acres of tropical cloud forest and grassland habitat and provides safety for many threatened and endemic species like Black-and-chestnut Eagles and Mountain Tapirs. Due to increasing threats to the ecosystem, we are teaming up to expand the reserve by 1,419 acres.

DRACULA RESERVE
PROTECTED ACRES: 3,520
ACRES IN PROGRESS: 1,268

The Chocó-Tumbes, a biodiversity hotspot composed of tropical moist and dry forest, is nestled between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean in western Colombia and northwest Ecuador. Rainforest Trust has been working with our local partner, Fundación EcoMinga, for six years to protect critical forest habitat, for the many endemic orchid species found in the region, through the creation of the Dracula Reserve. Named after the famous Dracula Orchid found there, the reserve spans 2,789 acres and protects hundreds of species. We are expanding the reserve again to safeguard the only known site in Ecuador for the Carchi Andes Toad and one of only two known sites in the world for the Rio Faisanes Stubfoot Toad, once thought to be extinct.

BIGAL BIOLOGICAL RESERVE
PROTECTED ACRES: 268
ACRES IN PROGRESS: 200

The Bigal River Biological Reserve in northeastern Ecuador protects ecologically unique tropical forests, providing a safe haven for species from the Andes to the Amazon. Providing a protected wildlife corridor from highlands to lowlands, its foothills are a critical part of the Northern Andes Endemic Bird Area. Rainforest Trust worked with our local partner, Fundación Sumac Muyu, to expand the reserve by 200 acres in 2019. Now, we are strategically building on that success by safeguarding another 200 acres so resident species like the Military Macaw, Common Woolly Monkey and White-bellied Spider Monkey can continue to thrive.

YANACOCHA RESERVE
PROTECTED ACRES: 2,399
ACRES IN PROGRESS: 596

Since its creation in 2002, Rainforest Trust and Fundacion Jocotoco have been expanding Yanacocha Reserve. On the western slope of the Ecuadorean Andes, the forests of Yanacocha are a key part of the Volcán Pichincha Key Biodiversity Area and a haven for an array of hummingbird species, including the largest population of the endemic Black-breasted Puffleg Hummingbird. Currently, we are working to increase protection by an additional 596 acres. The Spectacled Bear and a newly discovered amphibian species believed to be highly range-restricted will also benefit from this expansion.

WHY SAVE RAINFOREST?

70% of the known cancer fighting plants exist only in the rainforest.

Deforestation releases as much carbon as the entire global transportation sector each year.

Nearly 70,000 acres of tropical rainforest are lost every day.

The majority of the world’s plants and animals are found in rainforests.

IN 2019
Progress was made by Rainforest Trust and Our Partners…

INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES Gained Legal Rights to their Land

3.4 Million

Acres Protected ACROSS THE GLOBE

300,000

Acres Protected throughout THE PERUVIAN AMAZON

92%

Of Our Project Areas have had less than 5% deforestation

Rainforest Trust was founded on the premise that all rainforests, especially those replete with endangered species and endemic biodiversity, should be priority conservation sites, and that protection provides the best means of preventing destruction.

Habitat for Hundreds of
Species Protected

25 Million +
Acres Saved

30 + Years of
Conservation Successes

Protecting the most threatened tropical forests.

Our unique, cost-effective conservation model for protecting endangered species has been implemented successfully for over 30 years. Protection requires swift action, and we implement scientifically-based conservation plans that are not only timely, but also resilient and sustainable. With your support, we work tirelessly to permanently protect rainforests and other vital habitat throughout the world.

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Rainforest Trust was founded on the premise that all rainforests, especially those replete with endangered species and endemic biodiversity, should be priority conservation sites, and that protection provides the best means of preventing destruction.

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