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Conservation of the Jocotoco Antpitta at Tapichalaca Reserve,
Ecuador
Region: |
The reserve
is located in Zamora Chinchipe Province, adjacent to Podocarpus
National Park, Ecuador. |
Partner: |
Fundación
Jocotoco |
Initiation: |
2003 |
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| Tapichalaca Lodge. Photo Fundacion
ProAves |
Introduction: Tapichalaca
Reserve covers over 4,400 hectares (about 11,000 acres) of cloud
forest between 1,800 and 3,100 meters (5,100 to 10,000 feet)
elevation. The Reserve is home to more than 300 species of birds,
including the Endangered Jocotoco
Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi), a species which
makes this an Alliance for
Zero Extinction site. Vulnerable species such as the Bearded
Guan (Penelope barbata), White-necked Parakeet (Pyrrhura
albipectus), and Golden-plumed Parakeet (Leptosittaca
branickii) are also found here, as well as WatchList
species such as the Swallow-tailed
Kite (Elanoides forficatus). Endangered mammals
at the site include the Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and
the Vulnerable Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus).
An exceptional flora also exists in Tapichalaca and adjacent
Podocarpus National Park. In 2000, the Red Data Book of Plants
of Ecuador listed close to 130 threatened species in what is
now the Tapichalaca Reserve. Recently the tree frog, Hyla tapichalaca,
was also described as an endemic to the small Tapichalaca Reserve.
The reserve and most of the Park lie within
the Eastern Cordillera Real Montane Forest Ecoregion, the
Ecuador-Peru East Andes Endemic Bird Area, and the Tropical
Andes Hotspot.
The forests at Tapichalaca are threatened
by agricultural expansion, primarily with forest fires started
by the local community during the dry season to create pasturelands.
Larger birds and animals in the reserve are threatened by
illegal hunting.
Objective:
To protect the Jocotoco Antpitta and its habitat.
Actions:
1. Acquire key properties that protect the core habitat of
the Jocotoco Antpitta.
2. Reforestation and restoration of acquired properties as
needed.
3. Monitoring of Jocotoco Antpitta and Golden-plumed Parakeet.
4. Strengthen protection of the Tapichalaca Reserve and adjacent
Podocarpus National Park through training, community outreach
and increased protection.
5. Provide the Reserve with management plan and tools to improved
its long term conservation.
6. Bring the Reserve to financial self-sufficiency through
bird tourism, and increase income generation for nearby communities
of Yangana and Valladolid.
Accomplishments:
1. The Tapichalaca reserve is composed of over 27 properties
and protects over 4,400 ha (nearly 11,000 acres).
2. A management plan for the Reserve was prepared with detailed,
state of the art cartography.
3. The Reserve lodge was improved, to increase visitation
and visitor experience.
4- The Wax Palm campaign, during Easter, has become of national
importance and is run in TV and radio stations across several
Ecuadorian Provinces (started in Tapichalaca as a means to
help protect the stand of wax palms in the cloud forests,
a key nesting resources for the endangered Golden-plumed Parakeet).
For more information on how
to visit the lodge at Tapichalaca Reserve.
For more information about this project
or ABC’s other projects in Ecuador, contact
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Mission and Vision 
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