Saving the Rio Manduriacu Reserve, Ecuador

The Rio Manduriacu Reserve protects cloud forest on the Pacific slopes of the Andes in Imbabura, Ecuador, and is managed by Fundación EcoMinga and Fundación Cóndor Andino. On a series of expeditions with The Biodiversity Group, including Explorers Club Flag Expedition #83 in 2019, our team helped document its extraordinary wildlife.

Surveys here led to the discovery of new species, including the Manduriacu glassfrog (Nymphargus manduriacu) and Noblella worleyae, and the rediscovery of the Tandayapa Andes toad and the Mindo glassfrog. The reserve holds the only known surviving populations of several amphibians. It is also threatened by gold and copper mining concessions, which the local community of Santa Rosa de Manduriacu has resisted. These photos tell the story of the forest, its species and the people working to protect it.