Nature & Culture International: Recent News

Learn more about our efforts to conserve the extraordinary biological and cultural diversity of Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico. These stories are just some examples of the work that takes place every day to help save untouched Amazon rainforests, unique and threatened coastal dry forests, the lush cloud forests of the Andes, and a host of indigenous communities and local cultures.

May 2010	NCI Local Partner FUNACE Conserves 10,000 Acres of Endangered Forest NCI’s Ecuadorian partner organization, FUNACE (The Nature and Culture Ecuador Foundation), has purchased a total of nearly 10,000 acres to form the Cazaderos Natural Reserve in southwestern Ecuador. The reserve protects the most pristine Tumbesian dry forest in Ecuador, and forms a critical corridor between the La Ceiba Reserve, nearby community reserves, and the Biosphere Reserve of Northwestern Peru. This connectivity is important for the survival of endemic flora and fauna that live in this isolated and small area, which are currently threatened due to production of biofuels and other degradation activities. Read more...
May 2010	Natura and NCI Join Forces to Conserve 7,500 Acres in Southwestern Ecuador This March, NCI signed an agreement with Brazilian cosmetics company Natura, to support the southwestern Ecuador communities of Malvas, Chaquiro, Totumos and Limones in the management of approximately 7,500 acres of threatened dry forest in Zapotillo County. The resources provided by Natura will help the local community to define the boundaries of the areas to be declared a reserve, in addition to assisting in the creation of a set of regulations for the use of the space and its resources. Read more...
May 2010	NCI Helping to Save Peruvian Paramos During the last several months, NCI has made significant progress in helping to protect Peru’s paramos – unique alpine grassland ecosystems boasting unusually high numbers of endemic species. Due to the high altitude of paramos, species in this ecosystem have had to adapt to low atmospheric pressure, intense ultraviolet radiation, and the drying effects of Andean winds. NCI has submitted the necessary technical documents for the recognition of the new Samanga 3,700 acre Private/Communal Conservation Area, which will protect 2,200 acres of forests and 1,500 acres of paramos. Read more...
May 2010	Native Amazon Fish Farms Increase Nutrition, Employment, and Sustainable Income For over a year, NCI has been promoting the construction of small scale native fish farms to improve the health of community members while reducing pressures on the surrounding forests in the buffer area of the Cordillera Colan Reserved Zone located in the Amazonas region of northeastern Peru. Once heavily reliant on extractive activities with destructive long-term impacts, these rural populations are taking advantage of already degraded areas to construct native fish farms, which provide an excellent protein source for the families that live here. Read more...
May 2010	NCI and Regional Government of Loreto, Peru Sign 5-Year Cooperation Agreement In a sign of long-term sustainability, NCI and the Peruvian Program for Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in the Region of Loreto (PROCREL) have moved to a new building inside the Regional Government of Loreto (GOREL) complex and have signed a 5-year cooperation agreement. One of NCI’s most successful programs, PROCREL works to conserve the extraordinary biodiversity of Loreto – Peru’s largest department with 92 million acres of Amazon forest. The program has already helped to protect nearly 4.5 million acres of pristine forest in three newly declared Regional Conservation Areas (RCAs). Read more...
March 2010	NCI Ranks as Top Conservation Funder for Ecuador The Ecuadorian government has ranked Nature and Culture International as the leading non-governmental international donor to conservation and sustainable development projects in Ecuador. From 2007 through 2009, NCI invested a total of nearly $4 million to conserve highly threatened ecosystems in the country – more than any other international NGO including Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. We would like to thank our donors for their generous support, and in the years to come our long-term programs will continue to bring about great positive changes in this extraordinary region of the world. Read more...
March 2010	Southern Ecuador Water Fund Adds Municipalities and Protects More Forests FORAGUA, the Southern Ecuador Regional Water Trust Fund spearheaded by NCI, continues to gain momentum as an increasing number of municipalities are seeing the benefits of protecting water resources while simultaneously conserving highly threatened and biodiverse ecosystems. This January, two additional municipalities – Zamora and Chinchipe – joined the water fund, increasing the total number of current members to seven municipalities. These new members will soon begin to charge an environmental tax to all water users, which will be invested in protecting the region’s water resources and in compensating landowners for environmental services. Read more...
March 2010	San Diego Zoo Partners with NCI to Promote Living Forest Carbon Offset Program NCI and the San Diego Zoo have joined forces to protect 25,000 acres of critically endangered deciduous tropical forest in southwestern Ecuador through the Living Forest Carbon Offset Program. The program not only allows people to donate to protect important tropical forest, but it will also ensure the future provision of ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, clean and abundant water, and biodiversity. The funds will also cover developing a management plan and incorporating local communities to ensure long-term forest protection. Read more...
March 2010	NCI Private Reserve Will Help Solve Land Tenure Conflicts within Podocarpus National Park NCI, the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, and local farmers are working together to solve land tenure conflicts within Podocarpus National Park, a protected area with the highest levels of endemism in Ecuador. Small farmers who currently maintain pastures within the park’s boundaries are being encouraged to exchange these properties for land NCI has purchased outside the park, which includes areas of pasture. This would effectively transfer control of the farmers’ current pastureland into the hands of the Ministry of the Environment, who would allow the land to naturally regenerate over time. The NCI land would be given to the farmers free of charge, and is of better quality and closer to the road than their current properties. Read more...
March 2010	NCI Conservation Successes Highlighted at Paris UNESCO Conference At the UNESCO International Year of Biodiversity Science Policy Conference earlier this year in Paris, NCI, together with the Technical and National Universities of Loja, presented a series of cutting edge scientific findings on biodiversity in southern Ecuador. The studies addressed environmental education, community development, reserve management, and watershed protection, and highlighted the importance of high-quality research for effective conservation programs and policy-making decisions. Read more...
January 2010	NCI Supports Process for Declaration of 325,000 Acres of Conservation Areas in NW Peru Commissioned by the Regional Governments of Tumbes, Piura and Lambayeque in northwestern Peru, and with financial support from the KfW Bankengruppe of Germany, NCI staff have prepared and submitted a series of technical documents with the goal of declaring five new Regional Conservation Areas (RCA’s) in northwestern Peru. These areas would preserve over 325,000 acres of priority sites for conservation in Peru’s unique Tumbesian region, and the Peruvian Environmental Ministry is expected to approve the creation of all five areas later this year. Read more...
January 2010	New Executive Director Strengthens Long Term Sustainability of PROCREL Conservation Program in Peruvian Amazon One of NCI’s most successful programs has been the ambitious Program for the Conservation, Management, and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in the Region of Loreto (PROCREL) that works to conserve the extraordinary biodiversity of Loreto – Peru’s largest department with 92 million acres of Amazon forest. The program has already helped to protect nearly 4.5 million acres of pristine forest in three newly declared Regional Conservation Areas, and has also helped to improve the livelihood of the local people by developing a number of sustainable income generation programs. Read more...
January 2010	NCI Helping to Promote Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Goods & Services Industry in Ecuador With over a decade of experience in environmental conservation and sustainable development, NCI is helping to convert Ecuador into a leading exporter of environmental goods and services through the promotion of a regional and national training program sponsored by Ecuador’s National Secretary of Planning and Development. The program, “Conservation of ecosystems, generation of bio-knowledge, and development of industry based on environmental goods and services,” suggests a shift in focus towards a new model of internal development. Read more...
January 2010	NCI and RARE Inspiring Southern Ecuador Communities to Conserve Natural Resources NCI is building a relationship with US-based conservation NGO, RARE, that will help inspire small community members in southern Ecuador to take pride in the natural assets that make their communities unique, offering them viable means to protect these assets. Rare is supporting the deployment of a Pride campaign in southern Ecuador, which is Rare’s methodology for changing attitudes and behaviors in an effort to protect natural resources. A major goal of the project is to conserve the 12,000 acre San Andres watershed to protect the water supply and water quality in the region. Read more...
January 2010	NCI Works to Educate Peruvian Children About Bird Conservation During World Bird Month As part of World Bird Month festivities in northern Peru, NCI worked with 18 schools to teach the importance of bird conservation and habitat protection through a number of creative and artistic expression activities. Activities in coastal communities included mural painting, flying kites in the shapes of marine birds common to the area, and a series of art projects to learn about the threats seabirds face such as garbage dumping and oil spills. Read more...
September/October 2009	NCI Helping to Create Conservation Area around World’s 5th Highest Waterfall NCI is assisting the Amazonas Regional Government in northeastern Peru to establish a Conservation Area around the impressive Gocta Waterfall that will help protect the vast diversity of endemic flora and fauna in this threatened cloud forest ecosystem. Read more...
September/October 2009	Protecting Water Resources in the Peruvian Amazon NCI is actively working in the Peruvian Amazon with a number of other institutions to establish the Tilacancha Private Conservation Area that will help protect vital water resources for the city of Chachapoyas as well as preserve the region’s high biodiversity. Read more...
September/October 2009	NCI Helping to Empower a New Generation of Environmentalists In the Piura region of northeastern Peru, NCI’s environmental education department together with the Andean Paramo Project organized an exciting 2-day event – Mountain Ecosystems 2009 – that brought together schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 12 from eight schools to learn about the importance of the region’s mountain ecosystems. Read more...
September/October 2009	Sharing Successes within Ecuador’s Biosphere Reserves NCI, the coordinator of the Ecuadorian Network of Biosphere Reserves, along with the municipal governments of Loja and Zamora and the Ecuadorian Environmental Ministry recently organized an event to share experiences, successes and environmental management practices within Ecuador’s four UNESCO biosphere reserves (Galapagos, Yasuni, Sumaco and Podocarpus-El Condor). Read more...
September/October 2009	German Research Foundation Seeks to Expand Relationship with NCI Impressed by the research taking place at NCI’s San Francisco Scientific Station during a three-day visit to southern Ecuador, the president of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Dr. Ing Matthias Kleiner, is seeking to broaden the foundation’s future relationship with NCI and local universities. The DFG, which has been investigating the megadiverse mountain ecosystems of southern Ecuador at the Scientific Station since 1997, has an annual budget of $3 billion, and its program at the Station is one of the largest research programs of the German Government outside its territory. Read more...
September/October 2009	NCI Partners with Solana Beach, California to Protect Tropical Forest Impressed by the research taking place at NCI’s San Francisco Scientific Station during a three-day visit to southern Ecuador, the president of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Dr. Ing Matthias Kleiner, is seeking to broaden the foundation’s future relationship with NCI. The DFG, which has been investigating the megadiverse mountain ecosystems of southern Ecuador at the Scientific Station since 1997, has an annual budget of $3 billion, and its program at the Station is one of the largest research programs of the German Government outside its territory. Read more...
July/August 2009	NCI Helps to Save Earth’s Wettest Forest Nature & Culture International is supporting ProAves Foundation of Colombia to purchase key properties crucial to maintaining biodiversity connectivity in the Chocó forest of western Colombia, the world’s wettest forest supporting the single greatest concentration of endemic birds and orchids on the planet. It is also home to the Awá indigenous community that currently occupies a series of disconnected indigenous reserves, which this purchase will help to link.
July/August 2009	Creating Economic Incentives for Conservation NCI is helping the Ecuadorian government to implement its new Socio Bosque or “Forest Partners” program that provides payments to rural communities and farmers to preserve their forested lands. In July, NCI assisted the Cochecorral, Tundurama, and Guambusari communities located in the Podocarpus – El Condor Biosphere Reserve in obtaining economic incentive payments of approximately $28,000 annually for 20 years under this program for the conservation of 3,200 hectares of mountain forests and paramo.
July/August 2009	Fish Farms Benefitting People & Nature In the buffer area of the Cordillera Colan Reserved Zone located in the Amazonas region of northeastern Peru, Nature & Culture International is promoting the construction of small scale native fish farms to improve the health of community members while reducing pressures on the surrounding forests. Once heavily reliant on extractive activities with destructive long-term impacts, these poor rural populations are taking advantage of already degraded areas to construct native fish farms, which provide an excellent protein source for the families that live here.
July/August 2009	NCI Working to Protect Unique Palm Forest in Peru In the Chachapoyas region of the Peruvian Amazon, Nature & Culture International is working with local communities to promote the creation of a private conservation area to preserve a globally unique 25,000 acre palm forest of the genus Ceroxylon. Many palm species in the area have been recently recognized as new to science, and through a full bird and primate inventory currently taking place in conjunction with the Institute for Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon, we are learning even more about this wonderful area.
July/August 2009	El Angolo Reserve Celebrates 34th Anniversary This July, the Coto de Caza El Angolo Reserve, which protects 162,000 acres of endangered tropical deciduous forest, celebrated its 34th anniversary. Nature & Culture International has been working at this reserve in northwestern Peru to improve the conservation of the area and to encourage local communities to use their natural resources in more sustainable ways. The reserve is internationally recognized for its diversity of birds, and its significant biological diversity includes 150 bird, 17 mammal, 13 reptile, and 10 fish species, many of which are restricted to this Tumbesian dry forest ecosystem.
July/August 2009	NCI Working to Save Paramos Nature & Culture International’s paramo conservation program, based in Piura, Peru, has been working to sustainably manage highland areas by building local capacity and developing policies and laws to support conservation and sustainable development practices. The paramos, or highland grasslands, of the Andes protect water resources for a great number of people in the region and are home to a vast variety of species uniquely adapted to the harsh climate of these high altitude zones.
May/June 2009	Jambue Private Reserves Creates Unique Ecological Corridor NCI recently purchased over 2,200 acres within the watershed of the Jambue River in a spectacular section of cloud forest on the outskirts of Podocarpus National Park. The acquisition creates a one-of-a-kind ecological corridor connecting the Andean and sub-Andean paramo, cloud forest, and tropical humid forest ecosystems.
May/June 2009	Second Cazaderos Purchase Protects Critical Tropical Forest NCI has purchased an additional 2,700 acres in the Cazaderos section of southwestern Ecuador in an unspoiled section of tropical deciduous forest – a highly endangered ecosystem type of which only 5% currently remains. The acquisition is located in the largest continuous block of tropical deciduous forest in the region, and forms a critical forest corridor between NCI’s La Ceiba Reserve and the Biosphere Reserve of Northwestern Peru.
May/June 2009	One Million Acre Conservation Area Recognized in Peruvian Amazon With the assistance of NCI’s Loreto, Peru office, the 1 million acre Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area (RCA) located in a pristine section of the Peruvian Amazon has finally been recognized by the national government and signed into law by Peruvian President Alan Garcia.
May/June 2009	Work Initiated to Declare New UNESCO Biosphere Reserve In mid-June, an NCI team visited a number of cloud forest and paramo regions in the central Andean provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador to begin the process of declaring the new UNESCO Cajas Biosphere Reserve and to support conservation initiatives in the southern part of the Sangay National Park.
May/June 2009	Traditional Foods Festival a Showcase of Agro-Biodiversity The first Traditional Foods & Seeds Festival organized by NCI and local partners was held outside the city of Catacocha in southern Ecuador with the aim of providing a forum for farmers, housewives, and associations to exchange seeds and recipes and to promote the rich diversity of wholesome ingredients grown in the region.
May/June 2009	US Institutions Forming Partnerships with NCI Through the formation of partnerships with several US institutions and organizations, NCI will be able to expand research activities in its private reserves.
April 2009	Regional Water Fund Nearly Finalized NCI’s Ecuador office has been busy finalizing the documents to create a Regional Water Fund that would manage watershed conservation programs for a three-province region.
April 2009	Rare Ivory Palm Forests Protected We have successfully influenced the Municipality of Puyango in southern Ecuador to declare the rare and highly threatened Tagua, or ivory palm, forests in the area as a municipal reserve. Populations of howler monkeys can still be found here.
April 2009	Managing Species Rich Cloud Forests We have sent a detailed proposal to the Municipality of Loja to assume management of 30,0000 hectares of the Romerillos tract that is owned by the municipality and borders Podocarpus National Park, but that is not actively managed. This would result in conservation of a wonderful cloud forest that is under threat.
March 2009	Shade Grown Coffee to Replace Corn The Flemish Fund for Tropical Forests will finance a two-year project in the Tumbesian dry forests of Ecuador that encourages farmers to plant shade-grown coffee and tara as a long-term sustainable income alternative that will conserve forests and sequester carbon dioxide.
March 2009	Expanding and Protected Conservation Areas in Peru The NCI team in Loreto, Peru has been working to create the new Maijunas Regional Conservation Area, which would become part of an ambitious program to help conserve the extraordinary biodiversity of Loreto, Peru’s largest department with 92 million acres of Amazon forest, many of which remain untouched.
February 2009	Baskets for Better Lives Women in the remote Peruvian Amazon village of San Antonio de Pintuyacu are weaving hundreds of beautiful baskets from the fibers of the Chambira palm tree, which are now being sold at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Natural History Museum.
February 2009	Solana Beach to Protect Tropical Forest NCI and the city of Solana Beach, California have joined forces to preserve areas of tropical forest in Southern Ecuador that have been prioritized for conservation by the Ministry of Environment, and also protect watersheds important to local municipalities.
February 2009	Protecting Threatened Coastal Areas NCI is promoting the establishment of several coastal-marine conservation areas in the Piura region covering an area of over 173,000 acres in asscociation with the regional government and with funding support from the KfW Bankengruppe of Germany. The area is home to the largest populations of waterfowl on the Peruvian coast, an exceptionally high diversity of marine life, and threatened or endangered species such as the Humboldt penguin and green sea turtles.
February 2009	German Ambassador Visits NCI This February, Christian Berger, the German Ambassador to Ecuador, visited NCI’s San Francisco Scientific Station in southern Ecuador to learn about some of the cutting-edge projects taking place in this extremely biodiverse tropical mountain forest ecosystem.
January 2009	NCI Among the Best NCI is delighted to announce that we have been approved as one of the “Best In America” charities by Independent Charities of America.
December 2008	New 2.4 Million Acre Regional Conservation Area Created in the Peruvian Amazon Through the support of NCI, the Regional Government of Loreto, Peru approved a 2.4 million acre regional conservation area that will protect drinking water sources for the city of Iquitos while also conserving Amazon rainforest with some of the highest biological diversity in the world.
December 2008	NCI's Watershed Protection Program a Continued Success NCI successfully purchased several new areas critical to the protection of southern Ecuador's watersheds, and we continue to influence local municipalities and student groups through education campaigns.
November 2008	Bi-national Science & Technology Fair Showcases Projects from Ecuador and Peru NCI's environmental education department successfully organized the 7th Bi-national Science & Technology Fair, which showcased scientific and environmental research projects relevant to the region.
October 2008	Wax Palm Mountain Forest Conservation in Amazonas Region NCI staff members are diligently working to gain protected area status for the 150,000 acre Wax Palm-Huamanpata Mountain Tropical Forest in Amazonas, Peru, and funds received from a private donor will be used to aid in the conservation of the area.
October 2008	Palo Santo Project Receives Certification of Ecological Operation NCI's Palo Santo project that harvests the fruit of the Palo Santo tree to produce an internationally-marketed perfume, received a certification of ecological operation through the certifying company Ecocert.
September 2008	NCI Continues Conservation Efforts in the Dry Forests of Mexico An 800 acre purchase, watershed management programs, education, publicity and research activities are being carried out in the dry forests of mexico in an effort to futher preserve these threatened areas.
September 2008	Conservation of a Key Piece of Dry Forest in Zapotillo Through the purchase of a 2,000 acre property in the Cazaderos sector of Ecuador, NCI will initiate conservation activities in the most pristine dry forest of Ecuador.
August 2008	NCI Transfers Management of Loja Watershed to Municipality NCI turned over the management responsibilities to the municipality of two of its properties located in Loja's El Carmen watershed. The municipality will develop a number of conservation, reforestation, protection and education programs within the area.
July 2008	Indigenous Shuar Communities Legally Recognized Thanks to the support of NCI, 37,500 acres of Shuar territory were declared Protected Forest by the Ministry of the Environment. Nine Shuar indigenous communities were also given legal recognition by the State, guaranteeing them a series of rights, benefits, and protection, and helping to conserve nearly 40,000 additional acres of their territory.
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