3 NEW
PROTECTED
AREAS
PRESERVING KEY ECOSYSTEMS & WATER RESOURCES IN SOUTHERN ECUADOR So far, this year, Nature and Culture has aided in the declaration of three new Municipal Conservation Areas in southern Ecuador. The Municipal Conservation and Sustainable Use Areas of Espíndola, Catamayo, and Quilanga cover 145,000 acres of predominantly native forest and páramo which are key habitats for many endemic species like the spectacled bear, mountain tapir, Andean fox and the vizcacha. These newly protected areas include many waterfalls and lagoons that are not only important water sources but also sacred areas for the nearby populations. Together, these reserves will protect fragile ecosystems and provide connectivity for species within the nearby Yacuri National Park and Podocarpus National Park.
FROM THE FOREST TO THE CLASSROOM We are bringing the forest to the classroom! Del Bosque al Aula is an environmental education project aimed at transferring scientific knowledge about the cloud forest, generated during the last two decades at the Nature and Culture San Francisco Science Station to nearby schools from Loja and Zamora in the southern Ecuadorian Andes. During the last 14 months, in partnership with gaia liNc, we worked with teachers and scientists to develop a workbook for students from 10 to 12 years old and a guide for teachers with information about the latest scientific studies on the Tropical Andean hotspot in southern Ecuador. Over 400 students from 11 nearby schools received the book. In April of this year, about 200 students participated in a nature exhibition, sharing the local environmental knowledge from the book with their communties.
SAFEGUARDING THE HABITAT OF A UNIQUE MAMMAL Espíndola, Catamayo, and Quilanga Municipal Reserves are officially safe harbors for the critically endangered vizcacha. SCAN HERE
to watch Jimmy Japón’s Journey with the Ecuadorian Vizcacha!
We’d like to introduce you to Jimmy Japón, a researcher we’ve partnered with who is studying the critically endangered vizcacha (Lagidium ahuacaense).
Jimmy’s been passionate about wildlife, specifically the vizcacha, since he was a young boy. In 2019, when multiple fires destroyed five populations of the vizcacha, Jimmy reached out to Nature and Culture for help. Until recently, Jimmy and his colleagues from the Technical University of Loja were some of the only people working to protect the vizcacha in this area. Threats to vizcacha habitat have been exacerbated in the last decade, mainly due to fires and land conversion to pasture for cattle grazing or agricultural use. Nature and Culture, together with Jimmy and his colleagues, are working to protect the vizcacha’s threatened habitat and help existing populations recover.