CANANDÉ
43,000 acres protected
PARTNER: FUNDACIÓN JOCOTOCO, ECUADOR
The Ecuadorian Chocó was entirely forested in 1938, but by 1988, only 50 years later, 95% of the forests in western Ecuador below 3,000 feet (900 m) had already disappeared. There is a consensus that less than 3% of western lowland forests of Ecuador remain, yet deforestation continues.
Our partner Jocotoco formulated a response to these threats by creating a corridor of protected areas and a buffer to the Cotacachi-Cayapas National Park. This corridor creates a contiguous conservation network spanning more than 1.2 million acres (500,000 ha). It also creates the only area in the western tropical Andes where the entire altitudinal range starting at 200 feet above sea level to more than 16,000 feet (50-4,900 m) in elevation is protected.
“This particular conservation opportunity is just about as important as any that has arisen in the past century”
Nigel Collar, Leventis Fellow with BirdLife International
Save the Chocó has been working with and supporting Fundacion Jocotoco's work in the northwest lowlands of Ecuador for the last nine years. With our support and many others, Jocotoco has been able to protect over 40,000 acres in the Canandé region since we collaborated. This is one of the last strongholds of Ecuador’s Chocó lowland rainforest, an Ecuadorian jewel with some of the highest rates of biodiversity in world.
With such success comes a great amount of responsibility follows. Our goal is to support what Jocotoco has been doing the last 20 years in the region. One of the best ways is for us to invest in their infrastructure. By contributing to the day-to-day protection and upkeep of this critical reserve—including ranger salaries, scientific monitoring, and community engagement—Save the Chocó ensures that Jocotoco can maintain effective on-the-ground conservation. This partnership safeguards habitat for countless rare and endemic species while strengthening long-term protection of one of the most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems on Earth.