Ecuador

Going Green in Ecuador

(Please note: in the case of Ecuador, we are promoting a volunteer programme that has already been set up by the Jatun Sacha Foundation (FJS). This means that if you are interested in participating, we will refer you on to the FJS, but from there on in you will have to make your own arrangements directly with them. Added to this, unlike the other two options, there is a cost involved if you decide to volunteer.)

FJS is dedicated to protecting Ecuador's unique ecosystems through the implementation of nature conservation programmes and educational campaigns. The foundation is a private, not-for-profit Ecuadorian organisation founded in 1989 that promotes biological conservation, research, education and community programmes. Its volunteer programme allows volunteers to engage in conservation and educational projects.

There are eight biological stations where FJS's volunteer programme participants are recruited to. The work at these stations include reforestation, environmental education, community service, plant conservation, agro forestry, field data collection and reserve maintenance. Other projects that volunteers can participate in include the promotion of biodiversity conservation, research, education and other community programmes.

Volunteers carry out the conservation activities under the supervision of residential staff, researchers, environmental education instructors and the administrative personnel. The infrastructure of the FJS programme is designed for teams of students, volunteers, researchers and visitors.

For more details on the environmental projects of each reserve as well as how to apply for a volunteer position, visit Jatun Sacha's website at www.jatunsacha.org.

Regions

Each of the eight biological stations is located in a different area of Ecuador, which means that there is a wealth of diverse regions to choose from.

The Jatun Sacha Biological Station is a reserve located in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, where tree canopies soar high above and only a diluted sunlight is allowed to escape down to the forest floor.

Bilsa is a 3,000 hectare reserve containing some of the last premontane tropical wet forest of the north-western province of Esmeraldas. This forest is currently the third greatest conservation priority of the world.

Guandera, at altitudes of 3,100 - 3,600 metres above sea level, protects more than 1,000 hectares of tropical wet montane forest and paramo highlands in the northern Andes of the Carchi province.

The Congal Biological Reserve and Sustainable Aquiculture Centre is a 500 hectare reserve that includes mangrove and tropical hardwood forests, and is located in the province of Esmeraldas in the Muisne estuary.

The Lalo Loor Biological Reserve is a 250-hectare reserve that protects the last remaining stretches of transitional dry forest on coastal Ecuador. It is located in the Manabi province.

San Cristobal is located on the San Cristobal Island of the unique Galapagos archipelago. The archipelago is famous for its flora and fauna, which has evolved independently from the rest of the world due to the extreme isolation of the islands. The host of weird and wonderful creatures includes the giant tortoise, prehistoric marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and tiny penguins. The flora is well cared-for by the San Cristobal station, which is dedicated to conserving one of the last remnants of native vegetation on the higher portion of the island.

La Hesperia is one of the newest reserves. It covers over 800 hectares and is located in the low montane and tropical montane cloud forest, in the province of Pichincha.

The Tsuraku Community Biological Station and Reserve, a 4,000 hectare reserve in the Amazonian region, is unique in that it is managed by the indigenous Shuar people.

Ecuador

Despite the fact that Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in South America, it is one of the most diverse countries on the planet. On a biological level, Ecuador is home to 1,618 bird species - almost double the number found in the United States and almost as many as in Brazil, a country thirty-two times its size. Ecuador also has 15,000 native vascular plant species, of which more than 25% are endemic.

Following the saying good things come in small packages, Ecuador's geography encompasses almost all ecosystems found in South America. The Andes form part of Ecuador's central mountainous region, where volcanoes including the world's highest active volcano, Cotopaxi, define the landscape. Ecosystems in Ecuador range from permanent glaciers to cloud forests, mangrove forests, the Amazon rain forest, scrub deserts, costal dry forests and the unique oceanic archipelago, The Galapagos Islands.

Demographically Ecuador's diversity is also impressive. Apart from the Spanish-speaking mestizo population, there are many indigenous peoples who uphold their own cultural and linguistic identities. These peoples include the Chachi, Tsachilas, the Andean Kichwa, the Cofan, Huaorani, Siona, Secoya, Zaparo, Shuar, Achuar, and lowland Kichwa of the Amazon.