Ecuador’s Páramo Restoration Brings Back Wildlife and Fresh Water
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📰 The quick summary: Restoration of Ecuador’s degraded Antisana páramo has successfully revitalized water sources, brought back native vegetation, and reintroduced wildlife including deer, foxes, and even pumas after removing non-native livestock.
📈 One key stat: The restoration effort has reclaimed 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) of vital páramo ecosystem, significantly improving water quality for Ecuador’s capital city.
💬 One key quote: “This could serve as a case study for how food chains rebuild and slowly reshape the landscape,” says Evelyn Araujo, a biologist with the Fundación Cóndor Andino (FCA), which monitors the páramos around Ecuador’s Antisana volcano.
1️⃣ The big picture: Ecuador’s high-altitude páramo ecosystems, once severely degraded by cattle ranching for centuries, are making a remarkable comeback. In 2010, Quito’s water utility and the Quito Water Conservation Fund purchased approximately 7,000 hectares of damaged páramo land from a former sheep ranch southeast of Quito. After removing non-native livestock, closing drainage canals, and stabilizing eroded soil, the ecosystem began to heal. Native vegetation returned, wetlands were restored, and wildlife including white-tailed deer, Andean foxes, and pumas reappeared, creating a functioning food chain while also securing fresh water sources for Ecuador’s capital city.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: The restoration demonstrates that even severely degraded ecosystems can recover with proper management. Water quality has improved dramatically without livestock waste polluting water sources. Native wildlife has returned, including top predators like pumas that are now breeding in the area – a strong indicator of ecosystem health. The reappearance of species like the Andean bear shows that animals are rediscovering territories they had abandoned for decades. This sustainable conservation model, funded by water users in Quito, has become a benchmark for environmental protection projects throughout Latin America, with over 26 water funds now established in the region.
3️⃣ What’s next: Conservation teams will continue monitoring wildlife populations to ensure ecological balance in the recovering páramo. Local communities have embraced the conservation efforts and now serve as the first line of defense against threats to the ecosystem. The successful model will likely be expanded to other degraded páramos in the region, with experts from other Latin American countries already visiting to learn from the approach.
Read the full story here: Mongabay – Restoration brings back fresh water, wildlife to degraded páramos in Ecuador
