PROJECT AT A GLANCE

The global Chocó-Tumbes, one of the world’s most unique biodiversity hotspots, lies between the Andes and the Pacific in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. The Dracula Reserve, where Rainforest Trust has worked for many years, protects key areas of the Ecuadorean corner of this hotspot. The proposed expansion will protect low-elevation forest, currently under-represented in the Dracula Reserve, while connecting the Reserve’s Penas Blancas and Cerro Colorado Units. After protection, the low-elevation forest will be a corridor between these two units.

These proposed properties are the only known site in Ecuador for the Carchi Andes Toad and one of only two known sites in the world for the Critically Endangered Rio Faisanes Stubfoot Toad, once thought extinct. The site also contains many local endemics, including several new-to-science species such as the blue-eyed Pristimantis Frog and the Dracula Anole. Rainforest Trust and partner Fundación EcoMinga seek $475,617.60 to extend the Dracula Reserve by 978 acres. This strategic expansion is a critical part of a planned protected corridor between different parts of the Dracula Reserve system.

BIODIVERSITY

The dry valley of the Rio Mira in northwest Ecuador blocks the dispersal of cloud forest species. North of the Rio Mira, local endemic species have evolved, yet no national protected areas secure habitat in this region at the elevation of the proposed purchases. Researchers have done little work at this elevation in this part of Ecuador. But brief investigations sponsored by EcoMinga have uncovered several new species of rodents, amphibians and orchids.

In this area, the partner has also found two local endemic species once considered extinct in Ecuador: the Rio Faisanes Stubfoot Toad and the Carchi Andes Toad. These species all evolved in isolation north of the Rio Mira, and the Dracula Reserve is the only site protecting them. The proposed properties also contain wider-ranging endangered species such as the Black-and-chestnut Eagle and the Brown-headed Spider Monkey, Ecuador’s most endangered mammal.

KEY SPECIES

BROWN-HEADED SPIDER MONKEY (CR)
RIO FAISANES STUBFOOT TOAD (CR)
CARCHI ANDES TOAD (EN)
BLACK-AND-CHESTNUT EAGLE (EN)

THREATS

This area suffers from several pressures, primarily related to illegal incursions and extraction, as well as rapid development that is driving deforestation. Non-locals often enter to stake illegal land claims, leading to forest loss. The area also suffers from local poverty, which drives deforestation and limits options for sustainable living. New roads have exposed this unique biodiversity hotspot to settlement, mining and other extractive human activities. It will soon be impossible to protect an interconnected network of forests over the full elevational range of this hotspot, and species endemic to those elevations will go extinct.

The area also faces challenges posed by incursions from Colombian criminal groups and cocaine smuggling as well as illegal commercial orchid collecting. The region is famous among orchid sellers as a source of rarities. In fact, researchers first discovered several of the new local orchid species in European and American collections. One of these species, Dracula terborchii, is found on the proposed expansion.

SAVES CHALLENGE

Recognizing the urgent need to act now to protect the most critical habitats for threatened species, a committed conservationist challenged Rainforest Trust to scale-up our efforts and pledged a dollar for dollar matching grant of $50 million. Launched in October 2016, the SAVES Challenge saves species and tropical habitat throughout the world.

SOLUTIONS

Rainforest Trust and local partner Fundación EcoMinga seek $475,617.60 to extend the Dracula Reserve through the purchase of 978 acres. This expansion will protect vital habitat as part of a protected corridor between existing areas of the Dracula Reserve system. These four properties are some of the most sensitive and important spots for local endemics, among them three species of frogs not found in any other protected area in the country. These properties are critical in the creation of a conservation corridor between units of the Dracula Reserve system.

The region, home to birds that are rare or non-existent elsewhere in Ecuador — such as the Moustached Puffbird — has potential as an important birding destination. Dracula Reserve ensures the long-term viability of birding tourism by protecting the forest and birds that attract visitors. Finally, technical assistance will be provided to community members who want to grow high-revenue crops, such as vanilla, which would grow well in the area and might yield incomes competitive with mining jobs or other destructive employment.