Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

In the last 13 years, 2,433 new plant species have been reported in Ecuador, of which 1,663 are also new to science [ ] 96 The conservation and sustainable use of natural heritage In line with the government pro- posal to reduce the deforestation rate by 50 per cent, the Socio Bosque Programme was created, with the objective to conserve forests and nat- ural habitats throughout the national territory. The programme has been well received and has pioneered the establishment of economic incentives that promote the conservation of natural ecosystems and boost family economies in rural areas. Based on the experience of five years of management, and framed in the National Policy of Governance of the Natural Heritage for the Soci- ety of Good Living 2013–2017, the Ministry of Environment and Water established a National Programme of Incentives for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Natu- ral Heritage “Socio Bosque”. The programme’s main objective is to integrate incentive initiatives within a single national programme, seeking intervention in the territory, pro- moting an improvement in the living conditions of the inhabitants, and encouraging the concept of Good Living. The objectives are to: • Encourage afforestation, reforesta- tion and revegetation activities with native species in areas affected by deforestation, degradation, fragmen- tation, erosion, desertification, forest fires and other human activities • Encourage the conservation and protection of native vegetation cov- er and of forest, shrub, and hybrid, primary and/or fragile ecosystems • Encourage sustainable produc- tion and trade in biodiversity and non-timber forest products • Encourage forest management fo- cused on the four links of the wood value chain — procurement, pro- duction, processing and marketing • Facilitate the adjudication of lands of the State Forest Patrimony, protective forests and vegetation to guarantee their conservation and/ or sustainable use • Facilitate and promote the recogni- tion and valuation of environmen- tal services • Promote the application and artic- ulation of tax incentives in force within the law. Through this set of monetary and non-monetary incentives, managed in an integrated and complementary manner, the underlying causes of forest loss and degradation processes have been positively affected. The articulation of the programme with other governmental initiatives and sectoral public policies constitutes a challenge that in the following years the National Government should assume with greater vigour. E cuador is located to the north-west of Latin America, on the equatorial line, with territory in both hemispheres. It borders Colombia to the north, Peru to the south and east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It has an area of 256,370 km 2 and a population of over 14 million. The population density is 54 people/km 2 with a 2.3 per cent growth rate. The territory is divided into four natural regions and three continental zones: Costa (24.6 per cent of the area), Sierra (24.8 per cent) and Amazonia (47.8 per cent); and an insular region: Galápagos (2.8 per cent). In its continental territory, Ecuador has seven biomes of tropical humid forest, tropical dry forest, savannah, xerophytic scrub, montane forest, moor and mangrove. Red crabs Chany Crystal on flickr Ecuador