Report shows loss of natural land cover in Ecuador — and where it can still be saved
More than 30% of Ecuador’s total area today has been impacted by human activity, with much of that loss coming at the expense of the Amazon Rainforest over the past 37 years, according to a new report.
The report also records reductions of glaciers and land-cover changes triggered by expanding human activities such as agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and mining that have affected the country from the coast to the Andes.
In the Ecuadorian Amazon, mining has expanded at an alarming rate in recent years, but it’s agriculture that has really driven deforestation in the rainforest.
Protecting the remaining 66% of the country’s area still covered in natural vegetation should be now the priority of policymakers, working in partnership with local communities, researchers say.