The Greater Yasuní-Napo landscape area covers approximately 20,000 km2 in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Many cite this rich, moist- and flooded-forest system as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, in part because it is estimated to contain nearly 4,000 species of plants. The area is extraordinarily rich in fauna as well, and is home to wide-ranging, species such as the jaguar, lowland or South American tapir, and white-lipped peccary; each of which is often considered to be a keystone species. This biological richness is partially protected in the Yasuní National Park, the Huaorani Ethnic Reserve and the Cuyabeno Wildlife Production Area. Yet these reserves do not provide sufficient habitat for the wide-ranging species, nor is the capacity of the Ministry of the Environment (formerly INEFAN, the national service for protected areas) strong enough to manage these areas. Unregulated land- and natural resource-use, including over-hunting, oil and timber extraction, industrial agriculture (oil palm), and roads and settlement stimulated by the petroleum industry threaten the extraordinary attributes of the region.

In order to conserve the biodiversity of the Greater Yasuní-Napo Moist Forest Landscape Conservation Area, the project is working with local ethnic groups, public and private sector stakeholders, as well as PVO partners (including CARE, EcoCiencia, and FEPP), to improve the management of the protected areas and surrounding biological resources.

The project is working to establish baseline ecological information, provide support for monitoring and design of local-level initiatives, promote change in patterns of resource-use, and craft policy initiatives to encourage conservation-compatible land-uses in the region. Basic ecological information about animal movements and habitat requirements the selected landscape species is critically needed to inform responsible land-use decisions and development plans. In addition, basic data should guide the design and implementation of programs that promote locally-based conservation and/or management based on sustainable offtake levels. The project is focusing its local, community-based efforts on the Huaorani Indians, the key local ethnic group, but will expand interventions to the Shuar and Quichua ethnic groups, as well as to mestizo colonists. Efforts focusing on the Huaorani will occur in parallel with the strengthening of on-site park management and national institutional structures. This capacity building is intended to increase the ability of park staff to respond to conservation and management needs of the landscape and to build partnerships with local populations.

To learn more, please visit the WCS-Ecuador website.