Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, Protected Areas, Tourist Attractions

To reach the Reserve you can go through four different cities: Esmeraldas, Muisne, Atacames or Pedernales. The Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve's whole purpose is to make a concentrated inventory of all the flora in the Mache-Chindul Mountains and of the northern part of the Pacific coastal range of western Ecuador. The organizations that contribute to the Management Plan for the Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve are Ecopar, Jatun Sacha Foundation,the Foundation Natura and Conservation International. Jatun Sacha plays a big role in the development of private research initiatives in Ecuador and owns Biological Research Stations in Eco-systems that are considered to be in critical condition in Ecuador.

The Reserve contains the Laguna de Cube wetlands within its borders, which are made up of many unique animal and plant species that are being threatened due to deforestation or the degrading of the wetlands. Some of these unique and beautiful species of animal is the jaguar, the giant anteater, the long-wattled umbrella bird and the mantled howler monkey.

The reserve is a total of 70,000 hectares, which is made up of tropical rainforests, swimming holes and waterfalls and is something really worth seeing. So far field studies have successfully produced 4,000 herbarium collections that have helped researchers to discover many plant species which have never been seen before. Many quantitative ecological studies of forest structure and composition have also been obtained from the Mache-Chindul Mountains and have been published by different plant taxonomists who specialize in particular groups of plants. The field studies that take place help the researchers to better understand just where the different vegetation types grow and just how far their geographical range is.

SC Johnson is a company based in America that has contributed much to the success of the Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve. Already they have helped forty-five acres of degraded forest be restored to a healthy condition by having planted various species of deciduous hardwood trees. This will have a globally positive effect, by improving the condition of the air we breathe by absorbing a total of 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide in a period of thirty years.

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