Nature and Culture in Ecuador is part of Nature and Culture International (NCI), which works throughout South America. NCI’s overall mission is to conserve Latin America’s most extraordinary yet highly threatened ecosystems and cultures by saving endangered habitats, strengthening local capacity, and helping communities preserve their way of life.
Nature and Culture in Ecuador works through local staff and with local governments and communities to conserve a wide range of natural ecosystems. These range from dry coastal forests to the rich cloud forests of the Andean mountains and the rainforests of the Amazon basin.
Renzo Paladines, Director of Nature and Culture in Ecuador, was introduced to WLT through a mutual partner, IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands (IUCN NL). He attended a symposium in 2009 entitled Payments for Ecological Services and Strengthening Memberships, held by WLT and IUCN NL in Brazil.
After discussing the benefits of teaming-up with Nature and Culture in Ecuador and similarities in their approach to protecting natural resources, Nature and Culture in Ecuador became an official WLT partner in 2010. The partnership encompasses land purchase, land protection through our Carbon Balanced scheme and funding for reserve rangers.
Cazaderos Reserve
Jambue Reserve
La Ceiba Reserve
Podocarpus Project
Blue-throated Hillstar Project
Sangay Municipal Reserve
Santiago Municipal Reserve
Please see our Ecuador page.
2013: In May, UNESCO declared Macizo de Cajas a Biosphere Reserve. Nature and Culture in Ecuador acted as the lead catalyst in creating this two million acre Biosphere Reserve, the first in the Ecuadorian Western Andes.