Jocotoco Projects
Rainforest Trust and Fundación Jocotoco have been working together for over 20 years to protect Ecuador’s incredible biodiversity, creating reserves from the Galapagos Islands to the Chocó rainforest to the Andes mountains. But ecological pressures remain in the small, South American country — home to one of the highest deforestation rates on the continent. So our two organizations remain committed to working together to keep saving the places and species most at risk.
NARUPA RESERVE EXPANSION 2018
The Narupa Reserve is located in the Napo bioregion of northeast Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Just north of the Narupa Reserve, in the Sumaco Napo Galeras National Park, 872 species of birds have been recorded, exemplifying the importance of this habitat. The 2,259-acre reserve, founded in 2010, protects threatened species from illegal logging, deforestation and agricultural expansion. This area is in urgent need of protection due to easily accessible roads and high development and encroachment threats.
BUENAVENTURA RESERVE EXPANSION 2018
The Buenaventura Reserve is located in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena ecoregion, a biodiversity hotspot that is restricted to a narrow swath of land from the Andes to the Pacific along western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Rainforest Trust and Fundación Jocotoco first protected this area in 1999 and have expanded it steadily ever since. It harbors 15 globally threatened bird species, the highest density of any private reserve in Ecuador. The region has high conservation value – boasting habitat for the Endangered Gray-backed Hawk, Vulnerable Rufous-headed Chachalaca and Endangered El Oro Parakeet, three species found only in Western Ecuador. This area also protects many rare plants and provides habitat for the Critically Endangered Ecuadorian Capuchin Monkey, which occurs within Buenaventura Reserve and in forests west of this property.
CANANDÉ RESERVE EXPANSION 2018
The Rio Canandé Reserve in Ecuador, first established in 2002, is a hotspot for biodiversity, and many species with restricted ranges depend on the reserve’s lowland tropical rainforests. This includes the Critically Endangered Canandé Magnolia – documented only at this reserve – and the Critically Endangered Brown-headed Spider Monkey, one of the world’s rarest primates. In addition, at least 36 Endangered Great Green Macaws inhabit the area, perhaps the largest known group in Ecuador. Despite this site’s conservation value, nearby expanding lumber and palm oil industries pose great threats to this diverse ecosystem.
TAPICHALACA RESERVE
In 1997, Rainforest Trust’s current President Dr. Robert Ridgely discovered the Endangered Jocotoco Antpitta in southern Ecuador. One year later, Jocotoco established Tapichalaca Reserve to protect and manage a key location for the species (also the organization’s namesake). The reserve is home to the largest known population of Jocotoco Antpitta as well as many Endangered Mountain Tapirs. With help from Rainforest Trust, Tapichalaca Reserve now encompasses 9,316 acres of rich, wet and almost totally undisturbed montane forest on the Andes’ eastern slope. The Jocotoco Antpitta could easily have gone extinct. But by conserving this habitat, the species’ population is stable.
