Our Projects
Volunteer at Lalo Loor!
The
Lalo Loor reserves thrives on the energy and enthusiasm of volunteers
from around the world. Our volunteers participate in trail building, reforestation,
community environmental education, teaching English, producing pamphlets and other
informative materials, and assisting with biological surveys and research projects.
Volunteers enjoy an excellent opportunity to learn Spanish, acquire new skills, meet
interesting people, and learn about -- become part of! -- a warm and vibrant foreign
culture. Do you want to pitch in, get dirty, accomplish plenty, and then relax on
the beach? Come to volunteer with us!
Community Environmental Education
In
2005, we started an environmental education program for the region, with the Lalo
Loor Dry Forest reserve at its center. We provide environmental science and
natural history training to local teachers, who pass their knowledge on to their students.
We're also working directly with local school groups, organizing field trips to the
reserve, where the kids conducted mini research projects, and learned to identify
some of the local flora and fauna. Soon we will begin building an education
center with exhibits on the natural and cultural history of the coast. Donate
now to help with this effort!
Reforestation Program
Headed
by our project partner, the Jatun
Sacha Foundation, work has begun to reforest several hectares of
pasture along the reserve entrance road with native tree species.
The objective of the reforestation is to connect the Lalo Loor Dry Forest
reserve with nearby forest patches in order to expand the total area
of habitat. Species whose fruits provide food for birds and mammals,
as well as useful timber species that have been over-exploited in the
region are being planted. Species targeted include the legumes
Centrolobium ochroxylum ("amarillo lagarto") and Brownea
sp. ("clavellín"), Clarisia racemosa ("moral
bobo"), figs (genus Ficus), and the palm Astrocaryum
("mocora"). Volunteers
are needed to assist in the reforestation effort, including seed collection
and nursery maintenance.
Biological
Inventories
The dry tropical forest is disappearing at a rapid rate, and sadly
far too little is known about this endangered habitat. At Lalo
Loor we are conducting regular surveys of birds, plants and herps to
document the diversity of the reserve's primary forest. Recent
bird surveys yielded a list of more than
170 species, including many that are rare or endangered, and several
substantial range extensions. Parallel botanical inventories documented
more than 20 orchid species in the reserve
as well. Next year we will extend these surveys to other forest
patches in the Manabí Biological Corridor,
to look for additional threatened species, and prioritize these sites
for future conservation. Our long-term goal is to better understand
the distribution of plants and animals found in this exciting yet understudied
region, where the northern wet forests and southern dry forests mix.
Manabí Biological Corridor
The
northern portion of Manabí province is unique among Ecuadorian
coastal regions in that it still retains a significant proportion of
its original forest cover. This is particularly unusual given the dry
forest statistics for the entire country: of the pre-settlement extent
of this unique ecosystem, less than 2% of its original area remains
uncut. Sad figures, but fortunately for us, the landowners and campesinos
of the northern Manabí region have for years protected some of
their forests while those around them were busily cutting theirs down.
The Ceiba Foundation has identified a chain of over 20 forest remnants
along the Manabí coast, which form the beginnings of a biological
corridor connecting the wet forests of the north to the drier forests
of the south. The Lalo Loor reserve is located midway along this corridor,
and marks the first in what we anticipate will be a series of reserves.
Our long-term goal is to establish a continuous forested corridor all
the way from Pedernales to beyond Jama, a distance of over 50 km (30
mi). Through conservation agreements with local landowners we plan to
create reserves and private nature areas to protect each of the remaining
forest patches, and connect them through reforestation and regeneration
of the intervening landscape. The final corridor would permit movement
of wildlife between what now are isolated patches of forest, and expand
the amount of continuous habitat available to over 18,000 ha (45,000
acres).
Archaeology
The
Lalo Loor reserve is situated near the heart of the famous Jama-Coaque
culture of pre-Hispanic indigenous people. Their pottery, ceremonial
sites and residential mounds are scattered throughout the region, which
is well-known to archaeologists worldwide. There are several places
to view excavated sites, and a museum is being planned. For the time
being, we have a virtual museum available
online, which was developed by the reserve owner.
