The Ceiba Foundation received a 3-year grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to advance the Conservation and Sustainable Use Area in coastal Ecuador from on paper to under protection through the application of incentives.
The specific activities we propose are to: 1) advise and train community leaders and local government officials on the application of new and existing policies that support landowners who protect and restore forest on private lands (including conservation easements, property tax exoneration, and land management assistance); 2) implement conservation easements with local landowners to protect priority forest remnants in the coastal conservation corridor; 3) assess the outcomes of our prior USFWS-funded restoration efforts in the Jama Conservation Corridor to provide data-driven guidance on the most efficient and effective reforestation modalities to participating communities; and 4) increase the capacity of community tree nurseries to meet the high demand for tree seedlings that forest restoration efforts require.
Our long-term vision is a model conservation corridor (ACUS) where the unique biodiversity of coastal Ecuador will thrive alongside vibrant communities whose economic activities no longer depend on deforestation. Our goal is to demonstrate that tropical forest will be protected and restored when incentive opportunities exist that provide economic and environmental benefits to human wellbeing. Through the application of incentives, we plan to provide the stimulus necessary to advance conservation in the Manabí ACUS from a model on paper to conservation in action, that will increase the rate of forest protection and restoration in coastal Ecuador beyond the length of the project.