Supporting Forest Restoration and Sustainable Livelihoods in Coastal Ecuador

Abstract

The tropical dry forests of Ecuador are a critical source of biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem services, and they provide important ecological and health benefits for local communities. Ecuador has one of the highest rates of deforestation in South America, so these ecosystem services are under threat. Our client, the Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation (the “Ceiba Foundation”) is a conservation NGO that aims to address these threats in northwestern Manabí province. Through the creation of the Sustainable Use and Conservation Area (ACUS), spanning four cantons of Manabí, the Ceiba Foundation aims to conserve water sources, forest connectivity, and biodiversity. Ideally, this area will promote sustainable livelihoods and food security through eco-entrepreneurship, ecotourism, agrotourism, restoration of degraded ecosystems, and sustainable production. However, two key challenges threaten to undermine the success of the ACUS. First, resources for implementation of conservation efforts within the ACUS are limited. While restoration in particular shows promise as a solution for addressing fragmentation and biodiversity loss, it is also time- and labor-intensive. Thus, a framework for identifying the lands that are most critical for conservation or restoration is essential to continuing to drive impact at scale. Second, conservation initiatives such as the ACUS often struggle to bridge the gap between the long-term, community-wide benefits of conservation and the short-term economic drivers of deforestation. Furthermore, while many smallholder farmers practice forms of agriculture that integrate high levels of planned and associated biodiversity, these farmers face significant economic and environmental challenges to the continued viability of their more sustainable modes of production. We addressed these challenges through 4 main deliverables: 1. The creation of criteria for prioritization of restoration efforts and a map based on these criteria highlighting different levels of restoration priority within the ACUS. 2. An assessment of the motivations of “ecoentrepreneurs” who persist in sustainable modes of production despite significant challenges to this way of life, analysis of the challenges they face, and recommendations for support that the Ceiba Foundation and other stakeholders can provide. 3. Qualitative and quantitative data and analysis on the benefits of a particular form of ecoentrepreneurship—sustainable agroforestry practices—both from a larger geographic perspective and specific to the ACUS region so that these benefits can be shared and promoted. 4. The development of a systematic approach to ecotourism farm tour assessment on small agroforestry farms and application of this approach for farm tours associated with ASOPROCOFFEE, a multi-farm coffee cooperative located in Manabí. Together, these analyses and deliverables strategically inform the efforts of the Ceiba Foundation and initiatives in the ACUS. They also make a valuable contribution to the larger theory and practice of conservation and restoration, especially in dry tropical forests.