Ecuador Conserving Intag’s Cloud forests

The cloud forests of Intag are within the buffer zone of one of the world's most biologically important protected areas, the Cotacachi Cayapas National Park. This is the only protected area of any significant size in Western Ecuador. As seen on CEFE, it even comes ahead of the Yasuní National Park in terms of irreplaceability.

Intag sits within the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot, which according to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), is the most biodiversity rich of 36 global hotspots. It is predominantly tropical montane cloud forest; rare forest that occupies less than 2.5% of the total area of the world’s tropical forest. The forests and freshwater of Intag supply clean water and economic opportunities to thousands of Intag residents. They are also home to hundreds of species threatened with extinction, including 60 critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable species. The long list of threatened animals also includes the spectacled bear, the Endangered black-and-chestnut eagle and the Critically Endangered brown-headed spider monkey, one of the most threatened primates in the world.

However, all this abundant life and precious resource is under constant threat, particularly from large-scale mining projects. Since 1995, community-led action has so far been able to prevent a proposed copper mine from going ahead. This has saved pristine rivers from contamination by toxic by-products of mining. Rainforest Concern and DECOIN have worked together tirelessly to raise awareness about the threats of mining and to build local networks to oppose mining which, to date, have been crucial to this outcome.

Were the mine to go ahead, it would threaten the whole Intag region with large-scale deforestation leading to desertification, toxic contamination of rivers with arsenic and heavy metals. This destruction would further endanger rare species, as well as cause terrible social impacts.

In 2001 we helped DECOIN set up the community watershed and forest programme. This effective model of conservation enables local communities to purchase native forests for conservation and restoration. Through empowering and training local people and organisations, communities have become equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to be the custodians of their forests. So far, this popular project has enabled 38 communities, local groups and local government to own and administer 12,000 hectares of primary and secondary forests, which has protected dozens of watersheds and provided thousands of Intag residents with clean water in areas which, in some cases had been previously badly deforested and fragmented due to unsustainable farming practices.

We have provided funding for communities to actively protect these forest reserves through training workshops in the communities, establishing groups of forest wardens and setting up patrols.

With a strong element of environmental education built into the programme, the communities have increasingly understood that clean water comes from healthy and biodiverse forests. Farmers are now less concerned that water will run out and some communities have experienced notable health benefits. They have been taught how to monitor water quality and biological diversity, as well as how to reforest and manage their reserves. Regular Water & Biodiversity Forums run by DECOIN and supported by Rainforest Concern have continued to inform the communities on best management practices.