A small country brimming with wildlife, Ecuador is the eighth most biodiverse country on Earth.
Its diverse geographical make-up means it can support extremely high levels of endemism – species that are found nowhere else on the planet.
Despite this richness, Ecuador has the second highest deforestation rate in South America and the highest of any Amazonian country. Primary rainforests now cover less than 15% of the country’s land mass because of the destruction caused by oil exploration, logging, and road building. Social and economic pressures are threatening Ecuador’s once-pristine environments, leading to degraded habitats and extinctions.
With one of the worst environmental records in South America, it’s easy to feel helpless to prevent the destruction of Ecuador’s natural world. But giving up isn’t an option, when there is so much left to save; Ecuador has almost 20,000 species of plants, over 1,500 species of birds, more than 840 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 341 species of mammals. This means it’s time to act, to protect what is left of Ecuador’s wealth of wildlife.
Thankfully, there are dedicated conservationists working tirelessly – under difficult and often dangerous circumstances – to save as much of Ecuador’s biodiversity as humanly possible.
Here is a beautiful short film with David Attenborough about what’s being done to protect Ecuador’s wildlands
A film by Jonny Lu and Jeremy Valender | Orchid photography by Vava Ribeiro | Published by