Rainforest Trust is supporting the expansion of Fundacion EcoMinga’s Dracula Reserve in Ecuador. Recently, an incredibly rare toad was spotted there — the first Ecuadorian sighting since its discovery in 1984.

In 1984, researchers first found the Carchi Andes Toad (Rhaebo colomai) in northwest Ecuador. For 20 years, the species went unseen. Then, in 2005, researchers identified a small population in Colombia and confirmed the species’ continued existence. But this August, researchers in Ecuador’s Dracula Reserve recorded the first species sighting in Ecuador since the first discovery. Listed as Critically Endangered by IUCN, the Carchi Andes Toad is under threat from habitat loss and extinction looms. But this rediscovery provides a little hope for the rare and unique toad species.

“Over the last 20 years amphibians across the globe have suffered massive declines. Many species have been driven to the edge of extinction,” said James Lewis, Rainforest Trust’s Director of Conservation Programs.

“Stories like this one must give us hope. The Carchi Andes Toad has managed to hang on and now we need to work together, as a global community, to ensure its survival.”

Other than the Carchi Andes Toad, the Dracula Reserve is home to many other species, including the iconic “Dracula” orchids for which it is named. Rainforest Trust is working with local partner Fundacion EcoMinga to expand the reserve and provide more safe haven to these incredible endemic species.

For More Information and to Support this Project: Land Purchase Campaign to Save Ecuadorian Cloud Forest