Partnership in Pichincha and Beyond

Ecuador ranks fifth in the world for total bird diversity, after the far-larger countries of Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Indonesia. In all, this Colorado-sized nation boasts 1,670 species, many of them with small ranges. For 25 years, ABC and Fundación Jocotoco have worked together to save the country’s bird bounty, especially its rarest species, from Great Green Macaws to Pale-headed Brushfinches. ABC has supported expansion, management, and habitat conservation and restoration efforts at Jocotoco reserves since that organization was founded in 1998. The partnership continues. Ongoing efforts to expand and improve conservation at Jocotoco’s Río Canandé Reserve, where more than 400 bird species have been recorded, provides just one example of how the two organizations’ time-tested collaboration benefits one of the most biologically diverse parts of the planet.

— Howard Youth

climate change to pollution,” says Schaefer. “Many Quiteños come to visit Yanacocha these days, even in the absence of them being avid birders or hardcore naturalists, the typical crowd of 20 years ago,” he adds.

At Yanacocha, virtually all of the 6,000-plus annual visitors come face-to-face with at least a half-dozen hummingbird species as they stroll past feeders maintained along what was originally an Incan road. Many cross paths with the Sword-billed Hummingbird, a freak of nature with a bill as long as its body — and a few have the great fortune to spy the Critically Endangered Black-breasted Puffleg, a tiny hummingbird that finds a last refuge at Yanacocha and its vicinity.

This reserve sits near one end of the original winding road from Quito to the Mindo area. Once flanked by a widening margin of cleared pastures and small farms, the Nono-Mindo Road, since the construction of a new highway a few decades ago, is far less travelled these days. It was along this road over 30 years ago that Richard and Gloria Parsons established the country’s first registered Private Protected Area. The Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve and Lodge spans 988 acres and, over the years, has been joined by other private reserves popping up along this road, which is now considered an “eco-route.”

Referring back to the example of the Mindo area, Schaefer reflects on how the snowball effect of nature tourism’s popularity began humbly: “The changes in the Mindo/ Los Bancos area really go back 30 years,” he says. “Back then, a number of committed people joined forces and converted Mindo into a hub for nature lovers. Crucially, this has always been a grassroots movement, rather than one being monopolized by a single institution.”

Positive Impacts

Birds are a major “crop” cultivated at the area’s private reserves. Conserving — and restoring — habitat is key. Habitat brings birds, and birds delight visitors, many of whom return home with a growing appreciation of conservation efforts.

Not far west of Mindo, where the Pacific Slope descends to steamy foothill forest, the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation’s (MCF’s) Milpe Bird Sanctuary hosts a bounty of birds — including in areas that were, not too long ago, virtually bird-free pasture. I first visited Milpe in 2005, the year after its founding, and remember watching hummingbirds dart from the forest to feeders in a sun-stroked clearing. At the time, staff were removing dense patches of invasive pasture grass so they could plant young native trees there. Five years later, I returned but could not find the feeder spot … until I realized the site was enveloped in full shade, beneath a canopy of young forest. Overhead, redcapped, round-bodied Club-winged Manakins competed for mates, vibrating their wings more than 100 times per second to produce a resonating sound: “Bik Bik BAAHT!” Like many birds there, this species is endemic to the Chocó ecoregion. MCF has other properties nearby, including the Santuario de Aves Río Silanche, where ABC funded the purchase of 210 acres to launch the reserve in 2006.

Visiting Yanacocha or Mindo or Milpe, you get the feeling you could spend a lifetime in this small area and unlock only a fraction of Pichincha Province’s natural secrets. As the planet’s amazing biodiversity faces ever-greater challenges, perhaps there’s no better place to see how business and birds can help balance out the needs of humanity, while bringing us back to nature.