Buenaventura Private Reserve

The Buenaventura Private Reserve is managed by the Jocotoco Foundation and has 3,752 protected hectares of subtropical vegetation. It's known as a megadiverse area due to the number of flora and fauna species that take refuge in these jungles. The reserve was created to protect the habitat of the Orcés Parakeet (Pyrrhura orcesi), discovered by Dr. Robert Ridgely et al. in 1980. This reserve preserves one of the largest patches of foothill cloud forest in the western foothills of the Andes of southwestern Ecuador. In this zone, elements of the Tumbesian dry forests of southern Ecuador are combined with elements of the Chocó humid forests of northwestern Ecuador. More than 330 bird species are present in the reserve, of which 15 are globally threatened and 34 are endemic to the region. In addition, the reserve protects mammals such as the Western White Capuchin Monkey, the Western Two-toed Sloth, the Anteater, the Little Spotted Margay and the Coati.