The Ecuadorian Amazon teems with life and the Orellana Province contains 14 different ecosystems – over half of all those found within Ecuador. This rich diversity of habitats – everything from evergreen forest to flooded grassland – has given rise to a staggering array of wildlife.

Shrouded in the haze of the rivers and wetlands, small pods of Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) share the waters with Giant Otters (Pteronura brasiliensis), both of which are Endangered . The Amazon’s many tributaries also provide cover for the Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) which, swimming underwater, evades detection from Jaguars (Panthera onca). The skies are host to the dazzling plumage of Military Macaws (Ara militaris) as they fly in large flocks to feed on salt-rich “macaw licks”. Further inland, White-bellied Spider Monkeys (Ateles belzebuth), another Endangered species, travel through the treetops foraging for fruit.

Orellana also contains many species new to science, like the Tiputini Velvet Worm (Oroperipatus tiputini) described in 2024 and thought to be Ecuador’s first newly described velvet worm for over 100 years.

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(Image montage, clockwise: Amazon River Dolphin (©Sebastian Benalcazar/NCI) / Giant Otter (©Shutterstock/Ondrej Prosicky) / White-bellied Spider Monkey (©Whaldeher Endo (CC 1.0) / Amazonian Manatee (Shutterstock/Diego Grandi) ).

Your support for this appeal will not only create a Provincial Protected Area in Orellana but also help build a vast connected landscape of protected sites across the whole Ecuadorian Amazon.

The Orellana Province will play a major role in the expansion of the Amazon Platform for Forest, Climate, and Human Wellbeing Initiative. Set up in 2018, this initiative aims to unite conservation across six provinces within Ecuador, stretching from Zamora-Chinchipe in the south to Sucumbios in the north. The Amazon Platform will preserve Ecuador’s largest corridor of continuous forest, spanning an extraordinary 5.5 million hectares (13.6 million acres) of land, over twice the size of Wales.

Now, with your support, Nature and Culture in Ecuador will be able to expand this protection northwards into the Orellana Province. A key aim of the Amazon Platform is also to improve connections with existing Protected Areas, such as Orellana’s Yasuní National Park, thereby securing a bright and thriving future for the entire Ecuadorian Amazon.

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17% of the Amazon rainforest has already been lost. Scientists warn that, if this number hits 25%, a global tipping point could be triggered, with devastating consequences for the Earth’s climate. The importance of preserving standing rainforest in the global fight against climate change cannot be overstated.

The many trees, plants, and soils of Ecuador’s Orellana Province store approximately 94.5 million tonnes of carbon. This is a vital contribution to the entire Amazon rainforest that is estimated to sequester five percent of the world’s carbon emissions each year, equivalent to the entire aviation industry. By donating to this appeal, you will safeguard this critical carbon sink from accelerating oil extraction, agricultural expansion, and illegal mining.

“Alongside existing threats, we want this project to tackle future threats as well. The whole project will work into a wider role of making a change for the future, and putting plans in place that will have a big impact in the long-term fight against the climate crisis”

– Nora Sánchez Luzardo, Senior Latin American Communications Coordinator at Nature and Culture in Ecuador –

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Indigenous people have lived in harmony with the wildlife and ecosystems of the Amazon for millennia. Equipped with a wealth of local knowledge passed down through the generations, they play a critical role as forest guardians. Between 2001 and 2021, forests managed by Indigenous people in the Amazon collectively removed an estimated 340 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, equivalent to the U.K.’s annual fossil fuel emissions. In addition, many of the cultivated crops in the Amazon have evolved through a close relationship with the local Indigenous people in traditional agroforestry systems called “chakras”. Protecting this diversity therefore depends on preserving the Indigenous Nationalities’ ancestral ecological knowledge and management practices.

Nature and Culture in Ecuador recognise the critical importance of ensuring that all decisions reflect the needs, values, and territories of the Indigenous communities. Crucially, the Indigenous and local communities are not only beneficiaries of the project but active partners in its development. Through participation in principle stakeholder meetings following Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) principles, they will play an equal role in determining the boundaries of the protected area and the creation of community management agreements.

“Bringing together the provincial government and Indigenous peoples means that both have equal input into deciding where and how the Provincial Protected Area will be created, as well as its management. It’s a fantastic opportunity for collaborative working”

– Jaime Toro, Coordinator of the Amazonian office at Nature and Culture in Ecuador –

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