Donation Goal: $219,147
$219,147 Raised
100% Funded
$876 Per Acre
About Our Campaign
CAMPAIGN GOAL:
To reduce the threat of habitat loss and fragmentation by expanding Buenaventura Reserve
FUNDRAISING TARGET:
To raise $204,147 to purchase the 233-acre property, plus an additional $15,000 to support the property’s management for one year. Management costs include items such as the salary of a guard, boundary-marking, and fencing. By donating today, your financial support will help trigger additional match funds.
LOCATION:
Choco and Tumbes eco-regions of the El Oro Province in southwest Ecuador
HABITAT:
Buenaventura Reserve is a unique blend of deciduous forests and lowland cloud forest. A pronounced altitudinal gradient (1,000-4,000 feet) has also created many distinct micro-habitats; the result is a remarkable assemblage of species found nowhere else on Earth.
FOCAL SPECIES:
Buenaventura Reserve protects 340 species of birds, including the endangered El Oro Parakeet and El Oro Tapaculo, as well as the Long-wattled Umbrellabird and Ochraceous Attila, considered vulnerable to extinction. The reserve also protects dozens of frog and reptile species and a variety of rare mammals such as the Western Tamandua, Jaguarundi, and Oncilla.
Ochraceous Attila by Nick Athanas
El Oro Parakeets by Benjamin Skolnik
El Oro Tapaculo by Claudia Hermes
Long-wattled Umbrellabird by Murray Cooper
PARTNERS:
In southwestern Ecuador, two distinct eco-regions converge in the Buenaventura Reserve to create an area incredibly unique and rare that supports an astonishing number of threatened and endemic animals—species found nowhere else on the planet. It is here that American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is partnering with World Land Trust, a UK-based international conservation charity, to support Ecuadorian non-profit Jocotoco Foundation in the purchase of a 233-acre addition that will expand the reserve and ensure that birds like the El Oro Parakeet and other wildlife have a permanent home. Donate today to protect this important bird habitat and save the El Oro Parakeet.
High deforestation rates threaten what remains of bird habitat in this region. With a small window of opportunity to purchase this land, we must act fast. If you donate now, your financial support will trigger matching funds to support this land purchase.
Wild, diverse, and full of life: the Buenaventura Reserve. Photo by Pancho Sornoza
Buenaventura Reserve is the only area in this region that is assured protection from deforestation. This reality has inspired American Bird Conservancy, World Land Trust and several other groups to invest heavily over the past several years in expanding the reserve to its current size of 5,583 acres. The property we now seek to purchase contains vital forest patches for the endangered El Oro Parakeet.
El Oro Parakeet by Charlie Vogt/Andean Birding
By purchasing this property, we are also taking the first critical step in a long-term plan to establish an ecological corridor in southwest Ecuador. The corridor will connect Buenaventura Reserve to three proposed government reserves, encompassing an area of 56 miles.
This corridor is vital because although Buenaventura Reserve is a safe haven for numerous endangered species, it is becoming isolated within a sea of cattle-ranched landscape. Urgent action is needed to expand protection in the region and prevent species loss from habitat isolation.
The reserve is critical to birds as well as rare mammals like these Jaguarundi cubs. Photo by Francisco Sornoza
Habitat fragmentation can severely restrict gene flow and increase the vulnerability of these populations. We cannot afford to wait: Already, these diverse forests have been reduced to patches that cover less than the 10% of their original area.
The landowner of the property is ready to sell and we must act fast to take advantage of this unique opportunity to work at a regional scale to restore connectivity for endangered species and save the El Oro Parakeet.
Enlarged Area
Funds from this campaign will help purchase the property highlighted in yellow. This land purchase will connect parts of the existing Buenaventura Reserve and help save the El Oro Parakeet.
American Bird Conservancy is the Western Hemisphere’s bird conservation specialist—the only organization with a single and steadfast commitment to achieving conservation results for native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With a focus on efficiency and working in partnership, we take on the toughest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on sound science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.
World Land Trust (WLT) is an international conservation charity, which protects the world’s most biologically important and threatened habitats acre by acre. Since its foundation in 1989, WLT has funded partner organisations around the world to create reserves, and give permanent protection to habitats and wildlife.
Jocotoco Foundation is an Ecuadorian nongovernmental organization established in 1998 to protect land of critical importance to the conservation of Ecuador’s endangered birds and associated biodiversity. Jocotoco primarily achieves this by purchasing lands and managing them as ecological reserves.
