ECUADOR

Stop Logging in Ecuador’s Chocó Rainforest

Project Cost: $15,322,459

Funding Raised: $15,322,459

Please note that your donation may not be immediately reflected in the funding thermometer above.

Nearly one acre of forest is lost every second

37M+ ACRES SAVED

Stop Logging in the Chocó Rainforest

Rainforest Trust needs your support as we embark on a once-in-a-lifetime chance to end logging in Ecuador’s highly vulnerable Chocó rainforest.

For over 15 years, Rainforest Trust and our partner, Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco, have worked together to safeguard critical parts of this vibrant and biodiverse habitat through the creation and expansion of the Canandé Reserve. Now, we have an incredible opportunity to purchase the largest single tract of lowland rainforest in the history of our partnership – 53,907 acres – from two logging companies that are the largest drivers of deforestation in the country. With this expansion, the reserve will encompass 86,056 acres, increasing protection for wildlife by 400%.

This project comes at a vital time for the Chocó, which experiences a rapid deforestation rate. With less than 2% of the original vegetation standing, Canandé is one of the only remaining strongholds for wildlife.

We need to act now. This may be the only chance we have to conserve this last large swath of Chocó rainforest in Ecuador. Areas directly surrounding the potential expansion have already been exploited and almost completely converted into oil palm, timber, cacao plantations, and pastureland for cattle ranching. Without your help to purchase this land for conservation, logging companies will sell the property to oil palm or timber producers.

Together, we can completely remove logging companies from the area, conserve a rainforest on the brink of destruction and be a critical part of an incredible conservation milestone. Header Photo: The Great Green Macaw, by Denise LeBlanc/Shutterstock.

COUNTRY
Ecuador

ACRES
53,907

COST PER ACRE
$269.60

SPECIES
Brown-headed Spider Monkey (CR), Cucharillo Magnolia (Magnolia dixonii, CR), Horned Marsupial Frog (EN), Great Green Macaw (CR), Banded Ground Cuckoo (EN)

(CR)=Critically Endangered, (EN)=Endangered, (VU)=Vulnerable

ACRES PRESERVED BY
Purchase

PARTNER
Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco

CARBON STORAGE
12,714,884 mT*
*(metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents)

Protect the Health of Our Planet

Ensuring the survival of the Chocó has benefits far beyond Ecuador, stopping deforestation here keeps 12,714,884 metric tons of carbon stored in the Earth to stabilize our planet’s climate.

Jocotoco is also developing a project for carbon offsetting and sustainable land use activities to provide the long-term financial sustainability to conserve the enlarged Canandé Reserve.

 

Save Species From Extinction

Canandé is a critical part of an Important Bird Area and the Chocó Endemic Bird Area because it harbors 37 of the 62 range-restricted bird species found in the region including the Banded Ground-cuckoo (EN), Purple Quail Dove (EN) and Long-wattled Umbrellabird (VU). In addition, many migratory birds that come from Canada and the United States make Canandé their seasonal home including the Cerulean Warbler, Western Wood-pewee, Black-and-white Warbler, Summer Tanager and Olive-sided Flycatcher.

The new expansion will also bolster protection for the globally threatened species within the reserve including the Ecuadorian White-fronted Capuchin (CR), lesser-known Cucharillo Magnolia (CR), Great Green Macaw (EN), Blomber’s Tree Boa (EN), and a substantial population of the Brown-headed Spider Monkey (EN).

Help Rainforest Trust save this ecosystem and countless endemic species from extinction. Photos: (Above) Brown-headed Spider Monkey, by James Muchmore; (Below) The Chocó Rainforest in Northwestern Ecuador, by Ecuadorpostales/Shutterstock.

 

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