The bird that changed Ecuador: how a chance discovery of a rare species helped to save many more — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Robert Ridgely and his team discovered the jocotoco antpitta in southern Ecuador in November 1997 after recording and playing back its owl-like call, with the species officially described in 1999 as Grallaria ridgelyi.
- Ridgely co-founded the Jocotoco Foundation in 1998 to purchase and restore the bird's habitat, and the organization now protects 19 reserves covering about 50,000 hectares plus 82,000 hectares of privately and communally owned land.
- The reserves host more than 1,350 bird species — roughly 80% of all Ecuador's birds and one in eight species worldwide — along with the El Oro parakeet (fewer than 1,000 individuals) and returning Andean condors.
- Jocotoco's model relies on local community members as park rangers, habitat restoration through native tree planting or natural regeneration, and technology including camera traps and audio recorders.
- A Canandé reserve study found that formerly deforested land recovered 90% of biomass and 90% of species count within 30 years of biodiversity management, with 75% of original old-growth species returning.
- The article notes the foundation's work continues as President Trump has withdrawn US government funding for conservation projects around the world.
Why it matters: Jocotoco's 19 reserves — covering about 132,000 hectares combined and hosting 1 in 8 of all bird species globally — demonstrate that community-staffed habitat restoration can recover 90% of forest biomass in a single generation, a proven model now operating without US government conservation support that Trump has withdrawn.
Ask SkimNews
