Synchronicity Earth's grant for threatened amphibians
We're happy to announce that Synchronicity Earth grant us funding for the conservation of threatened amphibians. This is a joint project between Fundación Jocotoco, Tropical Herping, Centro Jambatu and Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
Ecuador is home to 632 amphibian species, with the greatest number of endangered species in the world. Furthermore, our country has the highest deforestation rate per area in South America, decreasing considerably the habitat of thousands of species.
In this project we will identify key areas of threatened amphibian populations and carry out rescue expeditions if needed. Endangered amphibians will be taken to a captive breeding facility for ex-situ conservation at Centro Jambatu. This will also allow us to identify species new to science and collect fundamental information to plan future reserve expansions.
A focus group are Atelopus toads. Thirteen Atelopus sp. have not been seen in several years. The expeditions funded by this project will hopefully rediscover these species. A poster by Tropical Herping illustrated the status of this charismatic group of amphibians. You can download it here.
