In an important decision for conservation in the tropical Andes, the Peruvian Ministry of Environment formally recognized the Ausangate Private Conservation Area (Área de Conservación Privada) on August 4th, 2025, a new protected area on communally titled land which includes 31,745 acres (12,847 hectares) of critical high-Andean ecosystems. Located in Peru’s Cusco region, the Ausangate Private Conservation Area (PCA) stands as a model for community-led conservation.
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Nestled between the Sangay and Llanganantes National Parks in Ecuador’s Tungurahua province, the newly established Ulba – Baños de Agua Santa Conservation and Sustainable Use Area created on July 31st, 2025, ensures a more sustainable future for 21,986 acres (8,897 hectares) of highly biodiverse cloud forest and high montane forest at the Andes-Amazon interface.
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On June 11, 2025, the Municipal Government of Chone established the Chone Conservation and Sustainable Use Area in Manabí, Ecuador. The new area in total spans 588,110 acres (238,000 hectares), with 257,817 acres (104,345 hectares) designated as a strategic conservation area. The strategic conservation area includes intact forest and water sources that supply the Chone municipality and support essential ecosystem functions.
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On August 12, 2025, the new San Pedro de Chonta Regional Conservation Area (RCA) was officially established in Peru’s Huánuco department, spanning 128,218 acres (51,888 hectares). The area, established by supreme decree, safeguards three priority ecoregions: Peruvian Yungas, Páramos, and Marañón Dry Forests.
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From May 29th to June 1st 2025, in the towns of Cotacachi and Intag in the northern Ecuadorian Andes, various conservation stakeholders from across Ecuador participated in a workshop focused on Conservation and Sustainable Use Areas (ACUS), a subnational conservation figure in Ecuador administered at the provincial and municipal level.
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The new Pasaje Municipal Conservation and Sustainable Use Area (Area Municipal de Conservacion y Uso Sustentable – ACMUS Pasaje) protects 44,326 acres (17,938 hectares) of Andean-Coastal transition ecosystems in El Oro, Ecuador. In addition to protecting important forests, Pasaje protects the lower Casacay River basin, a keystone for regional water security and essential source of drinking water for the cantons of Pasaje, El Guabo, and Machala.
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We are thrilled to announce the granting of the Imiría Conservation Concession to the Border Federation of Native Communities of Lake Imiría and Chauya – Masisea (FECONALICM), on May 7th, 2025, in Peru’s Amazonian department of Ucayali.
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The Velo de la Novia Regional Conservation Area in Ucayali, Peru, spans 35,583 acres (14,399.75 hectares) of Peruvian yungas (cloud forest) and humid tropical forest. Velo de la Novia, which translates to “Bride’s Veil,” gets its name from the 275-foot-tall waterfall that crashes onto a smooth rock face within the conservation area.
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On April 9th, 2025, the Municipal Government of Chilla, in the El Oro province of Ecuador, moved to protect 47,561 acres (19,247 hectares) of montane cloud forests and páramos by establishing the Chilla Municipal Conservation and Sustainable Use Area (Área de Conservación Municipal de Uso Sustentable).
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Medio Putumayo Algodón protects 700,778 acres (283,595 hectares) of Amazonian forests in an area considered a global center of biodiversity: the Putumayo-Amazonas landscape. Home to rare and endangered wildlife including jaguars, river otters, pink dolphins and woolly monkeys, the new regional conservation area aims to protect these species from threats such as illegal gold mining and logging.
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