Illegal mining (gold extraction) affects primary forests that are not part of the state system of protected areas.
Scientists like biologist Alejandro Arteaga identify these sites that require conservation management.
One of the motivations is the discovery of new species at these points, which helps to finance protection projects with the creation of private reserves.
Three new species of snakes are found in a cemetery, next to a church and in an orchard in remote towns of Ecuador
The degradation is accelerated by factors like Illegal mining, oil exploitation and climate changecauses that join the older problem of deforestation, to convert the primary forest into agricultural areas.
Arteaga is witness to the affectation in the vicinity of the Anzu and Nangaritza rivers, which cross the provinces of Napo and Zamora Chinchipe, in that order.
The Pitalala private reserve will be created at the first point, in the highlands of the Amazon region, where a species of lizard not yet described was found. The aim is to stop the loss of the pristine forest.
Financing was achieved with international funds and the ecotourism activity through a travel agency. The work includes bringing foreign visitors to observe the landscapes of these areas and the species they harbor.
The scientific analysis and the study at the molecular level are carried out with the collaboration of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
The scientist created the Khamai Foundation this year with the focus of doing scientific research and conservation. It was conceived precisely for the management of the Pitalala reserve.
A peculiar characteristic of this NGO is its way of financing projects. “The way to get funds to protect critical habitats in the country is mainly based on the discovery of new species”, explains Arteaga.
The methodology includes visiting remote locations that are suffering from degradation problems. This is where new species are found and “through the naming of these, funds are obtained for the protection of their habitat. This idea is presented to institutions and individuals who have some environmental awareness and who want to leave their legacy, so they choose the name they would like to give the new species and also make significant donations. for its conservation”.
A sample is what happened in an expedition carried out in November 2021 through the cloud forests of the south of the country whose purpose was to find toads that are believed to be extinct. However, on the way back, after not finding them, they did discover three new species of land snakes.
One of them was denominated with the scientific name of Atractus Michaelsabini in honor of Michael Sabin, a young naturalist whose family has protected more than 1,070 square kilometers of threatened habitat that concentrates amphibians and reptiles.
The degradation has intensified, adds Arteaga, during the last decade. “Sites that I had known years ago and that were in perfect condition, pristine, untouched with a lot of diversity, are now reduced to exploitation for gold; It seemed urgent to me to do something, that’s why I decided to create this foundation. I went last November and got to see how illegal gold miners have taken over the riverbanks”.
At the second point, in the area of the Nangaritza River, is the Maycú private reserve created by the NGO Nature and Culture International (NCI), in the province of Zamora Chinchipe.
In the latter, a new species of snake was recently discovered, part of the animal group of reptiles, one of Arteaga’s specialties as a herpetologist.
Discovering them increases international interest in these areas and raises the money to preserve them.
“The process of discovering one begins in the field during a scientific expedition, often completely by surprise. You find an animal that doesn’t look like anything you’ve seen and that’s where the intrigue begins. It is taking photos, obtaining a sample, taking it to the laboratory and the scientific process begins, which consists of comparing it with what is already known, seeing the differences and verifying that it is a new species. Then comes the revision in the museum collections”.
The publication of this new species in Maycú is still in progress, but Arteaga anticipates that it is part of a group of snail snakes discovered in various areas of the country.
Total 23 new species have already been published and named, including frogs, lizards, and land and snail snakes.
The sites with the most potential are the Buenaventura Biological Reserve, managed by the Jocotoco Foundation in El Oro, Maycú in Zamora Chinchipe, and the Sumaco National Park, which is part of the national system of protected areas and is between the provinces of Napo and Orellana.
“The work is now focused on the description of 20 more species reptiles and amphibians, we concentrated on these before expanding to other animal groups.”
Arteaga focuses on reptile species because there are few researchers focused on them, particularly snakes, which due to their bad reputation suffer constant attacks.
“There are a lot of species that need to be protected and the first step is to change people’s perception of them through photography on the one hand and also generating media attention on their importance and value in ecosystems.”
One of its many functions, says Arteaga, is maintain balance in all ecological chains and also keep rodent populations at bay. “This is important because a large part of the diseases that affect humans in rural areas are transmitted by rodents”
In addition, there is a biomedical reason since many snakes have the capacity in their DNA and in the proteins of the venoms to contribute to new medicines, either painkillers or even to counteract the bites of other snakes that are venomous, indicates Arteaga.
There are snail snakes whose venom only has an effect on the snails it eats. “Their venom paralyzes slugs so they can be eaten, but they are totally harmless to humans.”
In Ecuador there are 200 registered reptile species. The way to find them is varied. In the case of snakes, for example, it is best to take night walks, says Arteaga. “If you want to find ground snakes, you have to go with a shovel to dig, whip snakes are diurnal.”
Private reserves function as corridors to link state protected areas
The NGO Nature and Culture International (NCI) began its work in Ecuador starting in 1996 with the creation of the San Francisco private reserve in the vicinity of the Podocarpus National Parkwhich covers the provinces of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe and is part of the national system of protected areas.
The director of NCI in the country, Felipe Serrano, indicates that the work began in the south of Ecuador and since then they have expanded. Now they are present with conservation tasks in Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and have a fundraising and collection office in California, United States.
The first step was the acquisition of a property in the San Francisco River basin, where the biological reserve and scientific station bearing the same name were installed. The idea is to study biodiversity, the ecological and functional processes of mountain systems and to form local cadres related to ecology, hydrology, meteorology, etc.
“Undoubtedly It is the most studied site in the world in terms of tropical cloud forests. At the same time that we set up the station, we reached an agreement with several Ecuadorian and German universities to generate research, so in these 26 years more than fourteen German and eight Ecuadorian universities have carried out research projects in the place”, indicates Serrano.
The work was fruitful and today the seeds sown are harvested, since throughout these decades several national scientists were trained in German universities doing their master’s and doctoral theses at the San Francisco Biological Reserve and Scientific Station.
“Our mission is to conserve biologically diverse landscapes in the most fragile ecosystems in agreement with local communities and governments,” says Serrano.
The dry forest is the one that has had the most cover loss, which is why part of the NCI initiative focuses on this ecosystem. “The last remnants that still remain, the most important in the country, are located in the southwest of Loja, so when we asked the State to keep these areas, they told us that there were no resources, financing, or personnel, it was a remote area almost inaccessible, we had to act”.
Given this, NCI’s role has been to acquire land to create private reserves. There are already eight in the provinces of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe (like Maycú) that add up to 26,000 hectares.
“This network of private natural reserves that Nature and Culture Ecuador manages is home to dry forests, hilly dry forests, cloud forests, and Amazonian foothills.”
They are at strategic points to maintain biodiversity, since they allow connectivity with other protected areas or in areas that the State has not been able to attend to.
maycu stands out in the area of the Nangaritza river for being the only natural bridge that connects the cloud forests with those of the Amazon plain. “The Podocarpus National Park is between Loja and Zamora Chinchipe, to the east is the Nangaritza river basin and to the right is the great Amazonian plain, in Peru, so it is the only one that includes páramo, cloud forest, Amazonian foothills and the great interconnected Amazon plain”.
Connectivity allows the maintenance of biodiversity. “The jaguar or the spectacled bear are protected by a national park surrounded by cities, pastures, and crops. These populations cannot be related and begin to reproduce among the members, producing inbreeding, so the connection of the protected areas is essential”.
Even this area of the Nangaritza River has been cataloged by scientists as the one with the highest rates of discovery of new species on the planet. “It’s a pretty unexplored area. In a couple of scientific expeditions that we have sponsored, scientists found between 15 and 20 new species in just 15 days of searching, that is, one new species per day.”
The plan covers advice and the creation of conservation areas in more than 65 autonomous decentralized municipal governments in the provinces of El Oro, Loja, Zamora Chinchipe, Azuay, Cañar, Morona Santiago and Pastaza.
“We have also supported the State in creating national protected areas such as the Río Negro Sopladora National Park (in Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago) and Yacuri (between Loja and Zamora Chinchipe).” (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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