WCS Ecuador

Despite its small size (~270,000 sq km), Ecuador is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, measured by the absolute number of species and by the number of species per unit of area. A primary focus of the WCS Ecuador Program is to conserve biodiversity at the landscape scale in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon. At Yasuní, WCS conducts pure and applied wildlife research, and partners with local NGOs, universities, grassroots organizations, government institutions, and oil companies to promote conservation. At the local level, WCS provides training in conservation biology to indigenous peoples.  Recently, WCS’s regional initiative to protect spectacled bears expanded into Ecuador’s threatened cloud forests.

The Human Aspect
In addition to having a rich diversity of plants and animals, the Ecuadorian Amazon is home to the Awá, Cofan, Huaorani, Kichwa, and Shuar indigenous groups. The Yasuní landscape is inhabited primarily by Huaorani and Kichwa Indians. With a population of about 1,500, the Huaorani are one of the most traditional ethnic groups in Ecuador. They live in large expanses of lowland forest and practice subsistence hunting. As a result of their contact with modern technology and the market economy, the Huaorani are rapidly losing their cultural traditions.

Threats
Biodiversity across Ecuador, and particularly in the Amazon region, is threatened by unplanned colonization, water and air pollution, and the overexploitation of natural resources. Remaining forests are subject to hunting and illegal logging, resulting in local extinctions of wildlife and tree species. The impacts of oil exploration are widespread and will increase if the Ecuadorian Government accelerates the production of oil without mitigating the environmental impacts. 

WCS Activities
In the 28,000 sq km Yasuní Landscape Conservation Area, WCS uses a “landscape-species approach” that identifies the habitat needs of key, wide-ranging species whose conservation will help ensure the protection of the entire landscape. Our work includes gathering baseline biological data on landscape species (including black caiman, tapir, and white-lipped peccary), monitoring their populations and habitats, and evaluating the impact of human activities. With local partners, WCS strengthens on-site protection and management of biological resources across the landscape. We seek to elaborate a participatory, consensus-based, and integrated landscape conservation action plan. At a broader level, WCS promotes the development of national policies that support the landscape conservation approach at Yasuní and beyond.

In northern Ecuador, WCS trains para-biologists from the Awá and Shuar indigenous groups in wildlife and forestry research techniques, conservation biology, and land use planning. We assist trainees in characterizing resource use patterns by members of the Awá and Shuar nationalities, with the ultimate goal of developing community-based wildlife management programs.

WCS researchers are also evaluating how spectacled bears adapt to habitat loss and fragmentation habitat, in order to develop management recommendations for the species’ long-term survival. Research at Cotacahi-Cayapas and Podocarpus National Parks complements ongoing WCS bear projects across the Northern Andes.

Important Next Steps

• Continue to consolidate the Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve and its management committee.
• Formalize the working relationship with ONHAE (Organization of the Huaorani Nationality of the Ecuadorian Amazon) and develop a natural resource management plan for the Huaorani Ethnic Reserve.
• Continue biological monitoring and wildlife research on landscape species and the spectacled bear.
• Identify actions needed to manage game species sustainably and design community-based management plans with Kichwa and Huaorani Indians.