How nature-based tourism could save Ecuador’s cloud forests, incredibly biodiverse but in danger
- Threatened by hunting and habitat loss, the South American country’s cloud forests could thrive on responsible tourism. Extending nature reserves would help
It’s just after dawn in Ecuador’s Maquipucuna Cloud Forest Reserve. The sound of 1,000 water droplets falling on foliage complements the riotous early morning birdsong, while a fine mist cloaks the moss-laden canopy above.
Local guide Antony Flores scans the trees with his binoculars and points to a tall pacche (laurel) tree, heavily laden with aguacatillos. Something large but surprisingly nimble is moving in the upper branches, feasting on the tiny, fat-rich wild avocados.
September in Maquipucuna is the start of the avocado season, which means it can be only one animal – the iconic Andean or spectacled bear.
As South America’s only bear species – and the inspiration for the widely beloved children’s character Paddington Bear – Andean bears are the poster children of the Ecuadorean cloud forest.
They are also the reason more people are flocking to Maquipucuna – a two-hour drive from the Ecuadorean capital, Quito – from September to November each year.
There are believed to be fewer than 10,000 of these bears left across the northern Andes. Listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list, they face an increasingly uncertain future as a result of habitat destruction and hunting.