The KfW Development Bank from Germany signed an agreement with the Galapagos National Park Directorate to financially support the Ecological Restoration Project of Floreana Island.
The Giant Anteater is the largest of the four anteater species. They are highly threatened because of hunting and habitat loss, as they require large territories. This iconic mammal with a long, bushy tail can eat up to 35,000 ants and termites per day.
"I'm hallucinating. I still don't believe that Jocotoco allowed me to continue my career as a botanist after migrating from Cuba in search of a better life for my family." That's what Jennifer Martinez told us recently when she joined our team as the Sustainable Landscape Coordinator.
.jpg)
While orchids are particularly abundant in the Andes, they also occur elsewhere. On the Galapagos archipelago, there are five endemic species. Habenaria monorrhiza is a native Galapagos orchid that is extremely scarce on San Cristóbal Island. Very few individual plants have been found in the El Junco protected area within the Galapagos National Park that connects with Jocotocos Los Petreles reserve. To ensure the survival of this and other orchid species native to the Galapagos, we are raising funds to build a nursery in our reserve to prioritize orchid propagation.
14 agricultural producers from Floreana Island, in the Galapagos, received and installed metal containers for their farms to facilitate the feeding of the island's production animals.
There are 16,336 areas declared as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) worldwide, of which 1,508 are found in South America, and Ecuador accounts for nearly 10% of these. However, the country still has more regions that would qualify as KBA. Jocotoco and Birdlife International are leading a team of experts to evaluate the 137 KBAs in Ecuador over the coming months to identify new sites of ecological importance.
In early September 2022, during the framework of the 8th edition of the Guayaquil International Film Festival in its Galapagos chapter, Jocotoco sponsored the environmental education category, which opened for the first time, in which the documentary "Socorro Evolution" was the winner of the Iguana Dorada award.
At Fundación Jocotoco, we created the "Forest of Hope" with 26,000 native plants representing the soul of every victim of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador.
"Although I was not into birds, the Galapagos Petrel caught my attention to the point that I am dedicated to researching and monitoring it, with the hope that my findings will enable effective conservation of this endemic and endangered species." That's Jacob's recent comment about his professional goal.
