Rainforest Concern

Ecuador

Choco-Andean Corridor Project 

The Choco-Andean Corridor comprises 2 ongoing projects - a Watershed Project in Intag and a Cloud Forest project in Santa Lucia - and 2 completed projects - the Awacachi Corridor and Paso Alto (Southern phase).

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for related links. 

WATERSHED PROJECT, INTAG, NORTHWEST ECUADOR. In the Intag region of Ecuador, a sustainable development project is underway to protect the natural water resources of local communities. In some areas of Intag, deforestation has resulted in serious reduction of the quantity and quality of the water. Rainforest Concern is working with DECOIN to help the communities buy, and where necessary reforest, their watersheds in order to create community owned and administered protected areas. Please click here for our newsletter (2007) update (pdf format).

SANTA LUCIA CLOUD FORESTS. The Santa Lucia cloud forest reserve is located about 80 km northwest of Quito, in the province of Pichincha. This is at the far south of the southern phase of the Choco-Andean Rainforest Corridor. Rainforest Concern works with the Santa Lucia co-operative, a community-based conservation organisation dedicated to conservation and to sustainable development so that they can make a modest living whilst conserving their remaining cloud forest. The community owns 730 hectares (over 1300 acres) of montane cloud forest, of which about 80% is still in its prime, virgin state and the area has now been declared part of a Bosque Protector (Protected Forest). Please go to the Santa Lucia website for more information, or click here for our latest (2007) newsletter update (pdf format).

AWACACHI CORRIDOR (NORTHERN PHASE) AND PASO ALTO (SOUTHERN PHASE). In 2003, Rainforest Concern succeeded in creating a corridor between the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the Awa Indigenous Reserve in northwest Ecuador. Over 10,000 hectares of primary rainforest were purchased, in direct competition from palm oil and timber companies, and a programme of sustainable income generation is being established with the Afro-Ecuadorian communities in the area. This project was undertaken with our partners Fauna & Flora International and the Ecuadorian organisation NYTUA. The Paso Alto mountain range (Southern Phase) lies between the privately protected Mindo Nambillo Reserve and the Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve. In the Pamplona Watershed we are working with the Ministry of Environment, ALLPA and AACRI (Intag Coffee Growers Association) to declare 5000 hectares as Protected Forest, which involves work with local residents to find environmental and economic alternatives to ‘slash and burn' subsistence farming. Please click on the project name for our comprehensive newsletter (2007) update on the Awacachi Corridor and Paso Alto respectively (pdf formats). 

Gran Sumaco Buffer Area, Amazon, Ecuador

Since 1999, Rainforest Concern and FUNEDESIN (Foundation for Integrated Education and Development) have been working together in the rainforests of the indigenous Quichua people, conserving and protecting habitat and encouraging them to become stewards of their own resources. Since then, we have added approximately 1,500 hectares of land to a reserve in the Gran Sumaco National Park (which now totals 1740 hectares) and have purchased 53 hectares as a site for an environmental education centre. We also protect the forest from loggers and poachers, encourage overseas volunteer programmes and assist FUNEDESIN's self-sustainable community projects with the indigenous Quichua people which include the processing and marketing of cacao. Please click here for our comprehensive newsletter (2007) update (pdf format).

Frequently Asked Questions Click here to view frequently asked questions about the Choco-Andean Corridor project. 

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