All of our conservation and development projects have been carefully selected to provide the maximum positive impact on the communities and environments where we work. Long term partnerships with grassroots organisations, built to create short, medium and long term goals for each project guarantee that every team makes a lasting difference.
What better way to make a positive impact, whilst experiencing conservation first hand, than by going to the heart of the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest to help gather data and protect this fragile ecosystem. A significant proportion of each team members\' contribution goes directly to funding the project, and towards the long term running of Yanayacu Biological Research Station, a centre which will become a local and eventually national resource for Ecuador. Approximately 30% of your donation will go towards land purchase and protection through our partners Rainforest Concern.
Through professional project managers, who source food, materials and labour locally while following strict environmental and ethical policies, we guarantee that together we will make a very positive difference.
THE PROBLEM
With increased human activity, development and overpopulation many of the world\'s fragile natural ecosystems are being lost and irreversably damaged.
The Ecuadorian Cloud Forest is one such place which is under threat. It is an incredibly special forest located on the equator between 3000 and 12,500 feet (900 to 3800 meters) above sea level. Technically called Andean Humid Forest, it is more commonly known as Cloud Forest. Hot equatorial air from the Pacific Ocean hits the steep slopes of the Andes, as it rises up, it bathes the mountains with moisture and clouds. Because of this unique location and climate, the forest houses plant and animal species unknown in any other part of the world. It is filled with abundant bird and insect life. The Andean Spectacled Bear, Deer, Fox and Puma are also found in this forest, but not for long. It is now extremely rare to sight these large mammals.
Many of the local population also find it increasingly difficult to survive. A balance needs to be found so that communities and nature can survive side by side.
THE SOLUTION
Harold Greeney started Yanayacu Biological Station in 1999 when it consisted of only a small wooden home on 100 hectares of land and a dream to build a world-class teaching and research institution. In the past 8 years, Yanayacu has grown into a full-fledged research institution and centre for creative studies complete with a bunkhouse for 40 volunteers, a research library, a large kitchen, office spaces, a creative arts studio, 2 open-air research buildings, and a greenhouse. Yanayacu is internationally recognised and regularly hosts professors, graduate students, and volunteers arriving from Australia, Canada, Ecuador, England, Germany, Ireland, Peru, Poland, and the United States. Each year the centre hosts student groups from various universities who are interested in completing scientific projects, learning about the cloud-forest, and volunteering to help the station. In addition to hosting foreign students and volunteers, the centre has also hosted several Ecuadorian researchers. The station regularly host undergraduate students in biology from Ecuadorian Universities and have been successful in bringing together local community members. Aside from research, Yanayacu has been involved in outreach. Each year staff and guests of Yanayacu participate in the Christmas Bird count in Mindo, Ecuador, as a way of connecting with their neighbours in Mindo, who are active in preservation and conservation on the other side of the Andes.
The goal of Yanayacu is to protect and conserve the habitats and wildlife of North-eastern Ecuador through education of local and international students and scientific research focused on understanding Cloud Forest flora and fauna. The station aims to evolve with the land and the community so as to grow flexibly enough to be responsive to the needs of conservation and the local community
PARTNER HISTORY
QUEST were lucky enough to make connection with Yanayacu through long-term partners Rainforest Concern. Our Latin America Operations Manager and in-country Project Co-ordinator were able to visit the Station in 2007 and soon realised the contribution that Harold and the station are making to international conservation efforts. QUEST are very proud to be working with Yanayacu to help develop their ideas and vision.
WHERE?
On the slopes of the Antisana Volcano, Yanayacu is part of one of the largest intact altitudinal gradients in the eastern Andes. The land around the station is comprised of
80% primary Tropical Cloud Forest at an elevation of 100 meters, and connects directly to the large national preserves surrounding the volcanos Antisana and Sumaco. The remaining land is abandoned cattle pasture, but large tracts of continuous forest abound.