Jocotoco and Birdlife International lead the working group to increase the 135 KBAs in Ecuador

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 135 KBAs in Ecuador over the coming months to identify new sites of ecological importance.

To this end, we conducted an initial training for taxonomic experts and biogeographers in Quito, with the participation of independent researchers, institutions, and organizations, both local and international, such as the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, Cornell University, WCS, Conservation International, the Charles Darwin Foundation, among others.

By classifying specific zones as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA), the KBA program aims to safeguard the "most important places in the world for species and their habitats" (www.keybiodiversityareas.org) to promote collective efforts to mitigate the environmental crisis we are experiencing globally. To this end, the program supports identifying, mapping, monitoring, and protecting threatened species and their habitats.

The KBA initiative created the National Coordination Group in Ecuador, which includes the participant organizations and global allies of KBA, like the WWF and IUCN. The group will identify KBAs as management units, like the Jocotoco reserves, and aims to improve their legal protection.

Manuel Sánchez Nivicela, the National KBA Coordinator, who works at Jocotoco, describes the KBA initiative

"... is an excellent exercise in managing scientific information relevant to conservation since it implies the participation of different sectors involved in the research, protection, and conservation of nature. They are the people who best know the threats but also the biodiversity in the distinct regions of Ecuador.

Mapping Key Biodiversity Areas in Ecuador and providing summaries to local governments and stakeholders enables them to preserve biodiversity efficiently."