Welcome to “El Bosque” Nature Reserve located in the upper Vilcabamba Valley in the Andes of Southern Ecuador. The “El Bosque” Nature Reserve is 2,261 Hectares (5,587 Acres) extending from 1,800 to 3,700 meters above sea level (6,000-12,000 ft.). Approximately 75% of the reserve is within the limits of the Podocarpus National Park.
Thank you for your interest in El Bosque Nature Reserve and its programs for conservation, education and research. We would love to hear from you and welcome your visit! For more information, contact us at Email or donations.
Since 1979, stewardship of this protected forest has had two pivotal focuses:
1. The protection of its mountain streams, rivers and lakes, which are the primary source of water for numerous communities, and
2. The preservation of páramo and cloud forest, with one of the few remaining populations of the giant Podocarpus tree: Podocarpus oleifolius, and Prumnopitis montanus, that provides habitat for an extraordinary biodiversity including the threatened mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus), brocket deer (Mazama rufina) and bearded guan (Penelope barbata) one among hundreds of bird species present.
To guarantee the perpetual protection of this rich biodiversity, in 1994 by Ministry decree MAG No 0021 the 13th of April 1994, the Ecuadorian government declared “El Bosque” a Bosque Protector for its “natural, scientific, and educational” importance.
Thank you for being interested in El Bosque Nature Reserve and its programs for conservation, education and research. We would like to hear from you and welcome your visit!
If you are of the philanthropic sort, every bit of support is most welcome. For more information, please write to us at donations.
Conservation and community development projects in the buffer zone can be directed to our partner NGO – Fundación Colinas Verdes. For more information, see www.colinasverdes.org
