{"id":42004,"date":"2024-01-17T15:19:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T18:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/?p=42004"},"modified":"2024-01-22T15:21:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T18:21:24","slug":"report-shows-loss-of-natural-land-cover-in-ecuador-and-where-it-can-still-be-saved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/radar\/report-shows-loss-of-natural-land-cover-in-ecuador-and-where-it-can-still-be-saved\/","title":{"rendered":"Report shows loss of natural land cover in Ecuador \u2014 and where it can still be saved"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MONGABAY<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/by\/kimberley-brown\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Kimberley Brown<\/a>\u00a0on 17 January 2024<\/p>\n<div class=\"bulletpoints\">\n<ul>\n<li><em>More than 30% of Ecuador\u2019s total area today has been impacted by human activity, with much of that loss coming at the expense of the Amazon Rainforest over the past 37 years, according to a new report.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The report also records reductions of glaciers and land-cover changes triggered by expanding human activities such as agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and mining that have affected the country from the coast to the Andes.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>In the Ecuadorian Amazon, mining has expanded at an alarming rate in recent years, but it\u2019s agriculture that has really driven deforestation in the rainforest.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Protecting the remaining 66% of the country\u2019s area still covered in natural vegetation should be now the priority of policymakers, working in partnership with local communities, researchers say.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Humanity\u2019s footprint in Ecuador now covers more than 30% of the country\u2019s total area, at the expense of coastal ecosystems, the Andes, and forests across the country. But it\u2019s the Amazon Rainforest that has seen the most losses over the past nearly 40 years, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ecuador.mapbiomas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/12\/FACT_MapBiomas_Fact-Equador_12.12_v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">new research<\/a>\u00a0by local environmental NGOs EcoCiencia and MapBiomas Ecuador with other independent investigators.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_272323\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-272323\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/08\/17155212\/ec_230724144342_0869_11-768x512.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/08\/17155212\/ec_230724144342_0869_11-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/08\/17155212\/ec_230724144342_0869_11-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" alt=\"Where the Andes meets the Amazon in Ecuador. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler \/ Mongabay\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Where the Andes meets the Amazon in Ecuador. Image by Rhett A. Butler \/ Mongabay.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The researchers analyzed satellite images between 1985 and 2022 and found that Ecuador lost 1.16 million hectares (nearly 2.9 million acres) of natural land cover during this period. This includes the reduction or disappearance of glaciers, and more direct human-induced changes like increasing agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and mining. The researchers also created an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/plataforma.ecuador.mapbiomas.org\/cobertura\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">interactive map<\/a>\u00a0of their results to show this transition over time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Ecuador, since it\u2019s a small country, this is a significant area,\u201d said remote-sensing analyst Maria Olga Borja from EcoCiencia, who coordinates mapping initiatives with MapBiomas and the Amazon Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information Network (RAISG).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHalf of these transformations are happening where most of our forests are, so I think we should be looking into that more deeply,\u201d Borja, an Ecuadorian native, told Mongabay in a video call.<\/p>\n<p>The report analyzed five biomes \u2014 the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, the Amazon, the Andes, the coastal Pacific tropical rainforest, and the equatorial dry forests \u2014 to see where natural vegetation cover had changed and why.<\/p>\n<p>It found that forestry activity increased by 77% in the Andes over the 37-year time span, where native flora and local ecosystems were replaced by logging plantations, mainly eucalyptus and pine. On the coast, aquaculture increased by nearly 90%, mainly due to the expansion of Ecuador\u2019s shrimp industry, which today generates more income for the country than oil. It has also led to the destruction of 16.4% of the country\u2019s mangroves.<\/p>\n<p>In the Andes, 33% of glacier cover was lost, mainly due to climate change, the report noted, which is an irreversible loss of freshwater sources for local rivers and the ecosystems and communities downstream that depend on them, Borja said.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Amazon bears the brunt<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>One of the more alarming findings was how much the Amazon Rainforest, which covers nearly half of Ecuador and is an important carbon sink, has been impacted, Borja said. EcoCiencia and MapBiomas have long been monitoring satellite images of the Ecuadorian Amazon, but even they were surprised when they saw just how quickly the rainforest was being lost compared to other biomes across the country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_270206\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-270206\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/26163100\/ecuador_231502-PARA-WEB-768x512.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/26163100\/ecuador_231502-PARA-WEB-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/26163100\/ecuador_231502-PARA-WEB-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/26163100\/ecuador_231502-PARA-WEB-610x407.jpg 610w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/06\/26163100\/ecuador_231502-PARA-WEB.jpg 1280w\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Road in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Image by Rhett A.Butler.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBefore we were only looking at half of the picture, just the Amazonian part, and now we got the entire picture,\u201d Borja said, adding, \u201cThe changes in the Amazon are happening faster right now, and in the last [few] years, than what is happening in the rest of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most surprising aspect, she said, is the rapid rate at which mining, both legal and illegal, has increased. Part of this is due to the establishment of two large-scale mines,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/11\/expansion-of-ecuador-mine-risks-imminent-collapse-of-waste-dam-experts-warn\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">El Mirador<\/a>\u00a0and Fruta del Norte, both officially opened in 2019 in the southern Amazonian provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>Mining continues to expanded rapidly. In 2021 alone, the country\u2019s total mining area expanded by 1,405 hectares (3,472 acres), or the size of more than 2,600 football fields.<\/p>\n<p>Ecuador\u2019s last three governments have promoted the expansion of its relatively young mining sector, as its oil economy flounders. Mining currently accounts for about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberglinea.com\/2022\/01\/11\/ecuador-has-world-class-deposits-but-mining-sector-faces-challenges-to-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">1% of GDP<\/a>, and President Daniel Noboa, who took office last November, has continued to promote the sector, promising to create employment by incentivizing both national and international investments.<\/p>\n<p>Andres Tapia, communications director of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), said the intensification of mining in the rainforest over the past five to 10 years has put major pressure on Indigenous people living in these areas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_265919\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-265919\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/02\/23194940\/gold_mine_Nangaritza_photo_Alejandro_Arteaga2-768x512.jpeg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/02\/23194940\/gold_mine_Nangaritza_photo_Alejandro_Arteaga2-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/02\/23194940\/gold_mine_Nangaritza_photo_Alejandro_Arteaga2-1200x800.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/02\/23194940\/gold_mine_Nangaritza_photo_Alejandro_Arteaga2-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/02\/23194940\/gold_mine_Nangaritza_photo_Alejandro_Arteaga2-610x407.jpeg 610w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/02\/23194940\/gold_mine_Nangaritza_photo_Alejandro_Arteaga2.jpeg 1600w\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>An illegal gold-mining operation along the shores of the Nangaritza River in southeastern Ecuador. Image courtesy of Alejandro Arteaga.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Tapia said several communities have already been displaced by both legal and illegal mining activities. For example, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2015\/12\/large-scale-copper-mine-project-in-ecuador-mired-in-allegations-of-abuse\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">community of San Marcos<\/a>\u00a0in Zamora Chinchipe province was evicted in 2015 to make way for El Mirador, a copper mine. In the central Amazonian province of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/03\/gold-rush-in-ecuadors-amazon-region-threatens-1500-communities\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Napo<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/12\/gold-mining-invades-remote-protected-area-in-ecuador\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">illegal miners<\/a>\u00a0have been tearing up the Jatunyacu and Napo riverbeds with large dredges, drying up streams and spilling contaminants into the water in their search for gold. This has forced communities to travel farther to fish or even move into the nearby cities, Tapia said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMining in particular becomes a totally irreversible issue for the communities,\u201d he told Mongabay by phone.<\/p>\n<p>Agriculture has also taken over large swaths of the rainforest, causing deforestation. According to the EcoCiencia and MapBiomas data, total pasture and agricultural area in the country grew by 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) since 1985, with 46% of this expansion occurring in the Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, these are small-scale plots for subsistence agriculture, but they also include larger plantations of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/08\/oil-palm-and-balsa-plantations-trigger-deforestation-in-ecuadorian-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">oil palm and balsa wood<\/a>, particularly in the northern Amazonian provinces of Orellana and Sucumb\u00edos.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers say\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0264837720302787\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">government policies<\/a>\u00a0have contributed to this expansion, as land reform and sustainable agrarian programs in the 1970s encouraged people to migrate from other parts of the country and clear the rainforest for farming. While these policies are no longer in place, the migration and agriculture expansion that they triggered continue.<\/p>\n<p>Ibon Tobes, a biologist with the Biodiversity and Climate Change Research Center at Indoamerica Technological University in Quito, said these migrants, known locally as\u00a0<em>colonos<\/em>, generally establish their small-scale plots near water sources or roads, sometimes in Indigenous territory, causing conflict with local communities.<\/p>\n<p>But even Indigenous communities, who generally live off\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/04\/ecuadors-pastaza-province-indigenous-groups-collaborate-on-forest-conservation\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">chakras<\/a>, their collective community fields for subsistence farming, have started to create small plots to cultivate commercial crops, like cacao,\u00a0<em>malanga<\/em>\u00a0root or balsa wood, as they often have no other source of income, Tobes said.<\/p>\n<p>In either case, he said, the longer the thin Amazonian topsoil is exposed for monoculture crops, the harder it is for it to regenerate and for the forest to grow back.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_253625\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-253625\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/03\/10215021\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-10-at-4.47.27-PM-768x512.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/03\/10215021\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-10-at-4.47.27-PM-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/03\/10215021\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-10-at-4.47.27-PM-1200x800.png 1200w\" alt=\"Ecuador mining\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Disruption of the river for mining activities. Image courtesy of the Critical Geography Collective.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But the biggest threat to the Amazon, he added, isn\u2019t necessarily mining or agriculture, but the building of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/09\/road-network-spreads-arteries-of-destruction-across-41-of-brazilian-amazon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">roads<\/a>, which allow these two activities to expand deeper into the jungle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can clearly see that pattern in their maps,\u201d Tobes told Mongabay, referring to the Ecociencia and MapBiomas report. \u201cIf you open a pathway, you allow all extractive activities to be viable, because now you can sell them easily, legally or illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The remaining 66%<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ecuador is a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.undp.org\/latin-america\/blog\/how-ecuador-protecting-amazon-forest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">signatory<\/a>\u00a0to a number of international agreements to stop climate change and deforestation, including the New York Declaration on Forests and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbd.int\/information\/parties.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Convention on Biological Diversity<\/a>. It\u2019s also targeting a 4% reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes under its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/climatepromise.undp.org\/what-we-do\/where-we-work\/ecuador\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But, Borja said, \u201cthe map shows you that those policies are not transforming into realities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said she remains optimistic, however, that with the right planning and policies, the 66% of Ecuador\u2019s natural land cover that remains intact can be preserved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s definitely still a lot to protect. That has to be our lesson from this,\u201d Borja said. \u201cKnowing where your forest and your natural ecosystems are helps you understand what are those places that we need to work on if we want to conserve biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said the answer lies in better integrating civil society in conservation efforts, especially local communities, so that conservation makes sense for them and their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_250193\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-250193\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/12\/03175324\/AW_16Ecuador2013-768x512.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/12\/03175324\/AW_16Ecuador2013-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/12\/03175324\/AW_16Ecuador2013-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/12\/03175324\/AW_16Ecuador2013-610x407.jpg 610w, https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/12\/03175324\/AW_16Ecuador2013.jpg 1440w\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>An Indigenous man navigates his boat through the Ecuadorian Amazon. Image courtesy of Amazon Watch.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Tobes said the government needs to take a more active stance on protecting the Amazon, which could include creating alternative sources of income for communities to end their reliance on agriculture; supporting community governance of Indigenous territories; and working with communities to monitor and protect the forest.<\/p>\n<p>But it has to be done fast, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at the data set and compare it [over the years], and see how fast the changes have occurred and how deforestation has accelerated,\u201d Tobes said, \u201cyou realize that if it continues like this, in a few more years there will be very little of the Amazon left in Ecuador.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Banner image<\/strong>: Ecuadorian Amazon. Image courtesy of Sacred Headwaters Initiative.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Citation:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Viteri-Salazar,\u00a0O., &amp; Toledo,\u00a0L. (2020). The expansion of the agricultural frontier in the northern Amazon region of Ecuador, 2000-2011: Process, causes, and impact.\u00a0<em>Land Use Policy<\/em>,\u00a0<em>99<\/em>, 104986. doi:<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.landusepol.2020.104986\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">10.1016\/j.landusepol.2020.104986<\/a><\/p>\n<p>FEEDBACK:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSc1UErpNSJhNbg2RpCnwRp5xJDRjjgreKOG2J2cGaxtb9IaBQ\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Use this\u00a0form\u00a0<\/a>to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n<p>Tomado de: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2024\/01\/report-shows-loss-of-natural-land-cover-in-ecuador-and-where-it-can-still-be-saved\/\">https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2024\/01\/report-shows-loss-of-natural-land-cover-in-ecuador-and-where-it-can-still-be-saved\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 30% of Ecuador\u2019s total area today has been impacted by human activity, with much of that loss coming at the expense of the Amazon Rainforest over the past 37 years, according to a new report.<br \/>\nThe report also records reductions of glaciers and land-cover changes triggered by expanding human activities such as agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and mining that have affected the country from the coast to the Andes.<br \/>\nIn the Ecuadorian Amazon, mining has expanded at an alarming rate in recent years, but it\u2019s agriculture that has really driven deforestation in the rainforest.<br \/>\nProtecting the remaining 66% of the country\u2019s area still covered in natural vegetation should be now the priority of policymakers, working in partnership with local communities, researchers say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":42005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-radar","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42008,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42004\/revisions\/42008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisg.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}