Balsas Municipal Conservation Area safeguards water sources and fragile ecosystems in El Oro, Ecuador

In Ecuador’s southwestern El Oro province, a new conservation area has been established, safeguarding fragile ecosystems in the Catamayo-Alamor ecosystem and Balsas’ water sources, while helping to form an ecological corridor. Andes Amazon Fund celebrates the establishment of the Balsas municipal conservation area which spans 6,096 acres (2,467 hectares) and is a crucial step in the protection of biodiversity and ecological connectivity.

Increasing connectivity and safeguarding biodiversity and water sources

The Balsas municipal conservation area protects critical areas of evergreen forest, both in the piedmont and seasonal tropical forest zones of the Catamayo-Alamor ecosystem, a habitat for species such as the yellow-rumped toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) and the screaming momot (Momotus subrufescens). It also protects key micro-watersheds, such as those of Acacias, Santa Elena, El Milagro and San Roquillo, ensuring the supply of drinking water for Balsas and nearby towns such as Bellamaría and El Palmal.

The municipal conservation area is part of the El Oro conservation system, which covers more than 123,000 hectares in 10 cantons. This system not only ensures water supply for consumption and production, but also mitigates risk to floods and landslides, and reinforces ecological connectivity for the protection of vulnerable species.

This area along with conservation areas in neighboring cantons such as Las Lajas and Piñas, form an ecological corridor that connects the dry forest of the Puyango Petrified Forest with the piedmont forests of the Buenaventura and Moromoro reserve.

Conserving forests

The Balsas municipal conservation area had faced threats from deforestation from the expansion of pig and poultry farms. To mitigate these impacts, the municipal government is working to develop a management model that integrates sustainable production, the restoration of strategic areas, and conservation of natural vegetation.

Since 2016, Nature and Culture International (NCI) has supported the municipal government of Balsas with legal support as they develop the ordinances, with the delimitation and cartographic analysis of the area, and with local community engagement. This process has highlighted the importance of collaboration between communities and authorities to strengthen the management of important natural areas.

Per Luis López, NCI technical expert, the priorities in terms of the area’s future management include: the creation of an interdisciplinary management committee for the municipal conservation area, land use zoning and installing signs marking the conservation area, and establishing commitments by local land owners regarding the conservation of the area and surrounding water sources.

The establishment of Balsas reflects how the collaboration between local governments and organizations like Nature and Culture international strengthens the sustainable management of natural resources, generating lasting benefits for biodiversity and the well-being of communities.

Acknowledgements: 

The establishment of the Balsas municipal conservation area was made possible by the municipal government of Balsas in collaboration with Nature and Culture International and with financial support from the Andes Amazon Fund.