Fundación Jocotoco received a $135,000 grant to purchase 110 hectares of cloud forest to expand the Tapichalaca Reserve in Ecuador, located within the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot. Tapichalaca is one of Ecuador’s most important refuges for threatened wildlife, harboring 343 bird species, 19 mammals, 34 reptiles and amphibians, and 926 plant species, including hundreds of orchid varieties. The reserve is home to at least 55 endangered species, including the Jocotoco Antpitta (EN), Mountain Tapir (EN), and Andean Bear (VU).
QRFN and One Earth’s support for this 110-hectare acquisition leverages over $538,000 in co-funding, enabling Jocotoco to secure eight key properties totaling 548 hectares of critical habitat and improve connectivity across a critical conservation corridor. These upcoming acquisitions will block proposed road expansion that could open the region’s remaining forests to mining, logging, and agricultural encroachment, while strengthening protection for the adjacent Podocarpus and Yacuri National Parks.
This project was funded through a partnership with One Earth.