Ecuador hosts some of the highest ecological diversity in the world. A substantial 17 percent of Ecuador’s diverse ecosystems are protected as national parks and ecological reserves. Protected areas are, however, only one component of long-term conservation, as they cannot exist in isolation from the people and areas that surround them. The vast areas of continuous forest in the Andes have survived to the present not because they are protected, but primarily due to the remoteness and limited human population of this region. But this situation is changing, and continuing inroads into the higher elevation forests are evident, as forests are being cleared for agriculture at an alarming rate.

Student Program

Ecuador hosts some of the highest biological diversity in the world. The region is host to various rare species including the Andean Bear, Mountain Tapir, Red-faced Parrot, Golden-plumed Parakeet, Andean Condor, and Crescent-faced Antpitta.  The area also has a 2000-year history of human presence, and contains many pre-Columbian roads, terraces, and ceremonial sites. 

Round River is working with the Fundación Cordillera Tropical to develop and implement a reserve network and community-based conservation plan for the cloud forests and high mountain plateaus of the Mazar watershed in Ecuador’s Andes Mountains.  Students spend their time in the misty montane forests along the continental divide working on such projects as 1) Andean bear monitoring, 2) amphibian population assessments, 3) inventorying the rich biodiversity of this little-studied forest and páramo habitats, 4) monitoring non-timber forest products to develop a plan for sustainable harvesting, 5) environmental education with local Quichua schoolchildren 6) building capacity within FCT and other local organizations to conduct, implement, and monitor research with focal species such as the Andean Bear and Mountain Tapir.

Student Program Dates:
January 20 to April 10
September 22 to December 12