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Since 1999 Fauna & Flora International and its partners have been developing the Awacachi Corridor to save an area of Chocó rainforest from oil palm and logging interests in north-west Ecuador. Chocó rainforest receives more rainfall than Amazon rainforest. Its moist climate supports species that can survive nowhere else, including many amphibians.
The corridor protects valuable areas of Chocó rainforest and links two exceptionally important protected areas: the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the Awá Ethnic Reserve, creating one of the most important landscape conservation areas in the region.
The corridor is owned and managed by Fundación Sirua, an Ecuadorian conservation group and was established through land purchase – a process where land is bought outright and transferred to local ownership. Fauna & Flora International continues to support the corridor by working alongside Fundación Sirua to increase its management capacity and Cool Earth to raise support via sponsorship.
Awacachi is home to key populations of several plants and animals that are dependent on the habitats found within the Awacachi landscape. These include the brown-headed spider monkey, Buffon’s macaw (pictured right) greater long-tailed bat, the Baudó guan, banded ground cuckoo and leptodactylid frogs.
However, the area is also characterized by high levels of poverty. In recent years it has been the focus of a number of infrastructure projects. Land has been, and remains, under threat from the logging and oil palm industries. Illegal land trafficking and conflict over land ownership has arisen which threatens both the corridor and adjacent areas. Securing tenure for the corridor and local community lands is vital if the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources is to be achieved.
Our work with Fundación Sirua concentrates on long term protection of biodiversity within the corridor which we achieve through active collaborative management involving nearby communities.
This project is supported by Arcadia through FFI’s Arcadia Land Trust.
£50 or $100 could support an experienced community ranger on an FFI project for one month, enabling them to buy a new radio for field communications. This is an example of what your money could do. Please make a donation of however much you can afford.
Our world-renowned conservation journal, Oryx, publishes research and academic papers and disseminates models of best practices. Receive Oryx by joining FFI today.
