Fundación Cordillera Tropical

Private landowners hold title to an estimated 47% of land within the Nudo del Azuay and southern Sangay National Park. The Tropical Cordillera Foundation works with these impoverished rural families to involve them in the conservation of local forest and the protection of endangered species through projects geared toward capacity building and income generation. The program targets community members, often with little formal education, for training as professional park guards. Local employment allows conservation to become part of the family income in a rural region where few employment opportunities exist. FCT also works with area families on improving existing pasture in an effort to decrease the upward advance of the agricultural frontier, targeting areas with steep slopes and high amounts of existing erosion. FCT's Don Oso Program aims to protect the Andean, or spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and its diminishing habitat within and near the southern boundary of Sangay National Park. FCT works with area school children to educate the next generation on the important of conserving Ecuador's national forests.