Ecuador Neblina Reserve

Only 2.5% of all rainforests are cloud forests. Of those, 90% of Ecuador's cloud forests have already been lost. Many native species are listed on IUCN's Red List due to habitat loss and fragmentation.

This is due to large scale threats such as mining, road building and climate change, and other threats such as illegal logging and unsustainable agriculture (eg cattle ranching and sugar cane cultivation).

The on-going protection of the forest through patrols, monitoring and research is critical for the successful conservation of this cloud forest. Regular patrols of the reserve by a team of forest guards protect the reserve from hunting, illegal logging or opportunistic cattle grazing, and give us regular feedback on the health of the forest.

We use camera traps and GPS to gain valuable information about the recovery of the forest and its wildlife through sightings of key species.

We also put in place legal measures to ensure the long term protection of the forests. This includes successfully applying for and being granted first 'Protected Forest' status from the Ecuadorian MInistry of the Environment, and then in 2021, we were granted the enhanced protection status of the 'National System of Protected Areas'.

We are also committed to continue to expand the reserve to further extend the ecological corridor between protected reserves to the north and south, to reduce habitat fragmentation, and allow the seasonal migration of species. See below for our latest priorities.

The Neblina Reserve forms part of the southern section of the much larger Chocó-Andean Corridor. The Chocó-Andean Corridor Project began in 1993 to create connectivity of forest habitat between protected areas from the Mindo Reserve near Quito to the Pangan Reserve in south west Colombia.

Rainforest Concern is committed to continuing to extend the Neblina Reserve to expand the overall ecological corridor to reduce further habitat fragmentation, protect important watersheds and assist species migration and therefore survival.

We need your help to expand the Neblina Reserve to strengthen the connection of our Reserve to the Taminaga Grande community forest to the south.