Ecuador’s Efforts to Protect Its Rich Biodiversity
By Melanie Gade, Director of Philanthropic Partnerships at WWF
Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Located 1,000km from continental Ecuador, the Galapagos is a shining microcosm of this rich biodiversity. It is largely shaped by three powerful marine currents that make it unlike any other ecosystem in the world.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
The Humbolt Current is a cold, deep-water current that arrives at the Galapagos up the coast from South America and the Antarctic. It brings with it incredibly productive marine waters. It is thought that the endemic Galapagos Penguin – along with many other species now endemic to the Galapagos – originally arrived on the islands via the Humbolt Current. The Cromwell current comes from the East as a productive surface water current. Finally, the Panama Current hits the Galapagos to the North bringing with it any limited rainfall that comes to the islands. Together, these currents shape weather patterns and bring rich nutrients to the many species that call the Galapagos home.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
In 2022, 196 countries signed the global biodiversity framework agreeing to protect 30% of the land and waters by 30%. This was a transformative moment for global biodiversity protection; it gave the global community an aspirational “north star” to reverse biodiversity loss and injected new momentum into national processes to conserve and protect critical ecosystems.
Ecuador is a great example of a country that is working hard to partner with communities and other stakeholders in the country to deliver against this “30×30” commitment. For example, in 2023, President Lasso declared the entire coast of Ecuador’s mainland (out to 8 nautical miles) a marine protected area. In 2022, the Ecuadorian Government expanded the Galapagos Marine Reserve by 60,000 square kilometers bringing the total area to 198,000 square kilometers.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
In addition to protecting its own areas, in 2021, Ecuador joined Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica in committing to create the largest transboundary marine protected area in the world. This effort spans 600,000 km2, half of which is new protection, and together spans roughly the size of California. This initiative would help consolidate critical transboundary protection efforts and importantly support migratory species – like humpback whales – which travel up the coastline of the Americas as part of their seasonal migration patterns.
WWF works with countries like Ecuador to support their 30×30 ambition in many ways. Through a new collaborative called Enduring Earth, WWF and our partners are working to develop sustainable finance for protected and conserved areas in many locations throughout the world, including in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. As an employee working to support this massive global effort, traveling to see the species and the places WWF and our partners, including Nat Hab, are working so hard to protect, was an enriching experience.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
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