The Provincial Council of Santa Elena unanimously approved, on August 31, the declaration of the Provincial System of Conservation Areas and Sustainable Use of Santa Elena (SPACUS). This measure seeks to protect 112,450 hectares of dry and humid forest that contain a high biodiversity of animals and plants and protect the main sources of water for the entire province.
“For us, having these Conservation and Sustainable Use Areas is very important since Santa Elena does not have its own water sources. The only water source is the forest,” said Bertha Carpio, director of Environmental Management for the province of Santa Elena.
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SPACUS covers 80.7% of the province’s native forest, including the protective forest of the Chongón Colonche Mountain Range and the remnants of eight biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems. According to studies carried out in this protective forest there are about 171 species of birds and 37 species of mammals. Scientists estimate that the number of species is probably higher, as there is still much to study.
Santa Elena attracts thousands of tourists a year for its natural landscapes and its beaches. Among these tourists, there are also bird lovers, who visit the province to find species that do not inhabit any other part of the world.
In addition, SPACUS is located in the Tumbesian Bird Endemism Area, one of the places with the most endemic bird species in the world (56 species). The new areas are also home to emblematic species, such as the Estrellita Esmeraldeña hummingbird (Chaetocercus berlepshi) and critically endangered species such as the Guayaquil parrot (ara ambiguus).
“The coast of Ecuador is the region with the fewest land protected areas and the most worrying thing is that there is less and less forest, everything that is there is very fragmented. In Santa Elena there is one of the last remnants of forest on the coast”, says Max Lascano, executive director of the Fundación Paisajes Sostenibles (Pasos).
This new system will allow the passage of large mammals and other animals that will be able to move from the Machalilla National Park located in Manabí, to the Loma Alta Communal Ecological Reserve and the Chongón Colonche Protected Forest in Santa Elena, without danger.
According to the 2021-2030 National Drought Plan, Santa Elena is one of the provinces most susceptible to drought as a result of climate change. SPACUS, in addition to storing 17 million tons of carbon and contributing to the mitigation of global climate change, protects 97.5% of Santa Elena’s water sources.
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The SPACUS conservation measures are intended to ensure the quantity and quality of water for the inhabitants of the province in the long term. According to Renzo Paladines, director of the International Nature and Culture Conservation (NCI), “these conservation areas protect the water sources that supply the majority of cities and towns in the province and all the hotels, vacation complexes, and other tourist and industrial ventures in Santa Elena, which is why their protection is essential,” he says. .
For the establishment of SPACUS, the Pasos Foundation, with the support of NCI, worked with the Provincial Government of Santa Elena and 32 communes to develop the baseline study and the delimitation of conservation areas. To guarantee the conservation of these areas in the long term, management activities will be implemented such as: control and monitoring, research, restoration, reforestation and sustainable production.
According to Carpio, activities such as agroecology and bio-enterprises will be implemented that allow communities to develop while conserving their forests. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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