Once as densely forested as the Amazon, only 2% of Western Ecuador's native forest remains making it one of the most threatened ecosystems on earth. Illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle-ranching over the past three decades has designated it as one of 34 international biodiversity hotspots, which account for over 50% of the world's plant species and 42% of the world's terrestrial vertebrate species. Conservation International designated this forest as one of the three of the highest conservation priorities in the world.
Called "Fountains In The Sky" by locals, Cloud Forests isolated in the peaks of this coastal mountain range are the critical source of fresh water to the surrounding economies. . ...(Continue Reading)
