How does the biodiversity of cloud forests, like those in Ecuador’s Intag region, compare to one of the world’s most renowned protected areas?
Carlos Zorrilla – Originally appeared on Medium
A significant portion of the efforts and funding dedicated to conserving global biodiversity rightly focuses on the Amazon rainforest. This focus stems not only from its immense variety of plants and animals but also because it is home to hundreds of Indigenous communities. However, this emphasis often overlooks other ecosystems that are equally vital for biological diversity and that are protecting thousands of crucial watersheds. Among these are the cloud forests, also known as montane forests.
To highlight the importance of these ecosystems, the “Intag Sanctuary of Life” initiative was celebrated on March 29, 2025, in Cotacachi, Ecuador. This event marked the two-year anniversary of a ruling by the Superior Court of Imbabura Province that halted the Llurimagua mining project, partly due to the threat it posed to the Rights of Nature enshrined in Ecuador’s constitution. The declaration formally designating Intag as a Sanctuary of Life was unanimously approved by the Decentralized Autonomous Government of Cotacachi in October 2024. A key motivation behind this declaration was to draw global attention to the extraordinary biodiversity of the Intag area and the severe threats its forests and communities have faced from transnational mining interests since 1995.
Most of Ecuador’s mining concessions are situated in the Andean foothills, many of which are, or were once, covered by cloud forests. Globally, it’s estimated that cloud forests constitute less than 2.5% of all tropical forests. In Ecuador, particularly in the mid-elevation Andean foothills facing the Pacific, the vast majority have already been deforested. It is precisely in these foothills that the Llurimagua mining project — a joint venture between the state-owned companies ENAMI EP (Ecuador) and Codelco (Chile) — is located. This project is just one example among dozens where forested areas vital for watershed protection have been granted as mining concessions without adequate consideration of the impacts on biodiversity, water resources, and local communities.
Ecuador’s cloud forests, typically found between 1,000 and 3,000 meters above sea level on the Andean slopes, are exceptionally biodiverse. Beyond their rich biological tapestry, these forests safeguard mid- and upper-level watersheds. Unfortunately, these same regions also harbor the country’s highest concentration of mineral deposits and mining concessions.
The Surprising Diversity of Cloud Forests
To truly grasp the biological significance of the cloud forests within the Llurimagua mining concession area, it’s insightful to compare them with Yasuní National Park, widely considered one of the most biodiverse protected areas on Earth.
Yasuní National Park covers approximately 10,000 km² (one million hectares), making it about 200 times larger than the Llurimagua mining concession area (48.3 km² or 4,829 hectares). Unsurprisingly, Yasuní hosts a greater total number of species than the Llurimagua cloud forests. However, if we measure ecological importance by the density of endangered or endemic species per square kilometer, cloud forests like Llurimagua reveal a much higher concentration (1).
According to available data, 130 species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List have been recorded in Yasuní (2, 3). In contrast, despite significantly less research and being 200 times smaller, 45 IUCN-listed threatened species have been identified to date within the Llurimagua mining concession(2).
What does this comparison reveal? Yasuní has a density of approximately 0.013 threatened species per square kilometer (or 1.3 species per 100 km²). Llurimagua, even with limited research, boasts a density of 0.94 threatened species per square kilometer (or 94 species per 100 km²). This means the forests within the Llurimagua mining concession have a concentration of threatened species, per unit area 72 times higher than Yasuní’s.
Beyond this remarkable concentration of threatened biodiversity, cloud forests are notable for their high number of endemic species (species found nowhere else). For instance, within the Llurimagua concession, two frog species have been discovered that are known only from this 4,829-hectare area. One of these, the Intag Resistance Rocket Frog (Ectopoglossus sp.), has only ever been found in a single micro-watershed within the concession and is new to science.
Mining Impacts and Fragility
Another way to appreciate the uniqueness and fragility of tropical cloud forests is to consider the potential impact of large- or medium-scale mining. According to a preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment conducted in 1996 by Japanese experts for a small copper deposit within the Llurimagua concession, the proposed open-pit mine would require deforesting 4,065 hectares. Subsequent exploration discovered even more copper, suggesting the potential impact could be even greater.
It is difficult to find another mining project globally where preliminary studies indicate such a high potential impact on documented threatened species within such a concentrated area. Combining IUCN and Ecuadorian Red Lists, 100 threatened species have been identified within the Llurimagua concession. At least two of these — the endemic frogs mentioned earlier — would face extinction if the mining project proceeds. Since mining heavily impacts water resources, the project jeopardizes all species dependent on clean water, especially fish and amphibians. Twenty-eight frog species listed as threatened by the IUCN or Ecuador are at risk from this single project. The threats extend beyond amphibians; jaguars, spectacled bears, and three monkey species are among the 100 threatened species identified so far.
Just eight kilometers from the Llurimagua concession lies the Los Cedros Protective Forest. Extensive scientific research there has identified 64 IUCN-listed threatened species. Many others are included on Ecuador’s national Red Lists. Los Cedros is similar in size to Llurimagua and shares the same ecosystem type and altitudinal range, making it highly probable that they share many species (particularly mobile ones like birds and mammals).
Mining development is progressing in Ecuador often without authorities adequately assessing the impacts on biodiversity, especially in areas critical for protecting high and middle Andean watersheds. An ecosystem depleted of its biodiversity becomes less resilient, less stable, and less capable of capturing and storing carbon dioxide and mitigating the climate crisis. Furthermore, degrading watersheds impairs their crucial function in regulating the water cycle, preventing floods, and providing healthy water and food security for both rural and urban populations.
References and Notes
(1) Key Reasons for High Biodiversity and Endemism in Andean Cloud Forests:
● Richness in Epiphytes: A large portion of the floral biodiversity comes from epiphytes — plants growing on other plants (trunks, branches). This includes thousands of orchid and bromeliad species. A single mature tree can host tens of thousands of individual epiphytes from dozens of species. Amazonian forests are comparatively poor in these life forms.
● Environmental Gradients: Steep slopes and rapid changes in altitude create numerous microhabitats with distinct conditions (temperature, humidity, sunlight), fostering high species diversity adapted to specific niches and promoting endemism.
● Geographic Isolation and Speciation: The Andes’ rugged topography isolates plant and animal populations in valleys and on slopes, driving speciation (the formation of new species) over evolutionary time. This results in a high concentration of endemic species (especially plants, amphibians, insects).
● Constant Humidity: Persistent fog and cloud cover provide high humidity, benefiting groups like epiphytes, mosses, ferns, and amphibians. These, in turn, create habitats and resources for insects, birds, and other animals, leading to complex food webs.
● Geological History (Andean Orogeny): The relatively recent and ongoing uplift of the Andes (over millions of years) has driven biological diversification by creating new areas for colonization and isolating populations, contributing to the region’s status as a global biodiversity hotspot.
(2) Sources on Threatened Species: Information for Llurimagua is compiled from environmental impact assessments, scientific publications, and data from conservation organizations. For Yasuní, one source is: https://pachamama.org/yasuni. (Original author’s note: Consolidated data on the exact number of threatened species within Yasuní’s boundaries was challenging to locate).
(3) IUCN Categories Included: The analysis includes species listed as Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), and Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. The Near Threatened (NT) category was not included in this specific comparison.