Los Cedros view from the scientific station. Image: Davide Nicastro
The Los Cedros Biological Reserve covers 15,000 acres (about 6070 hectares) of primary tropical cloud forest in Ecuador's northwestern Andes.
This protected forest is one of the most biologically diverse habitats on earth.
Part of the southern buffer zone of the 989,000 acre Cotacachi-Cayapas National Park, the reserve safeguards the headwaters of four important watersheds and protects at least 206 species with high extinction risk. Five of these species are regarded as critically endangered by the Ecuadorian government. These include the black and chestnut eagle, the brown-headed spider monkey and the Northwestern Andes jaguar.
In this 5-minute video John Seed, founder of the Rainforest Information Centre, explains what is special about Los Cedros and why we've fought so hard to protect it.
Visit the Los Cedros webpage to learn more about the reserve's history, contact details and how to visit.
Visit our campaign website to learn about the incredible natural history of the reserve, including taxonomy lists and photos of birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects.
Letter from world scientists attesting to the biological value of Los Cedros
If you would like to support Los Cedros, please do so through our Ecuador Endangered crowdfund
or by direct donation to RIC.
Thank you!
Mantled howler monkey - an endangered species within the reserve. Photo: Murray Cooper.
A brief history of Rainforest Information Centre in Los Cedros
In 1988, RIC provided funds from the Australian Government's overseas aid program to a team of local conservationists, led by the dedicated Josef DeCoux, to establish the reserve. At the time the forests of this region were being destroyed at an alarming rate by unregulated land clearing.
RIC has been closely involved with the reserve ever since. In the 1990s there were a steady stream of volunteers from Australia. Over the decades we have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Los Cedros to keep out logging and poaching threats and become a globally-recognised research centre in tropical ecology, botany, ornithology, mycology and many other scientific disciplines.
Australian volunteer taking a break from construction at Los Cedros in the early 90s. Photo provided by Josef DeCoux.
The court battle to save Los Cedros from mining
Despite being a living ark of biodiversity, the reserve has been threatened ever since its establishment - first by logging and poaching, and most recently by mining interests.
In 2017, 68% of Los Cedros was placed under concession for mining exploration, along with over 2 million hectares of protected forests, vulnerable highland ecosystems and Indigenous lands in the Andes and Amazon headwaters.
The mining concession was quickly bought by a Canadian company, Cornerstone Capital Resources, in conjunction with the Ecuadorian state company, ENAMI.
By 2018, mineral exploration activities were in full swing, with roads being built into the outskirts of the reserve, prospectors hiking in under the cover of night to set up camp, and noisy helicopters flying over daily, almost grazing the treetops and causing monkeys to fly away in panic.
The team at Los Cedros, headed by station manager Josef DeCoux, got quickly into action. They drafted a legal case to kick out the mining company, which was lost at the local court due to corruption. The following year, in 2019, they took the battle to the provincial court of Imbabura, and won.
But things were not over by a long shot. The mining company appealed the decision. Meanwhile, as the appeal was working its way through the legal system, they blatantly ignored the Imbabura court ruling and continued to explore illegally within the reserve.
In 2021, in an exciting and unexpected move, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador decided to take on Los Cedros as a test case for a new legal precedent - to try the strength of the country's unique Rights of Nature laws.
Getting the case up to court involved a massive effort within Ecuador and internationally, driven by the local team and supported by a diverse network of scientists, legal professionals, local environmental organisations and international conservation organisations, including Rainforest Information Centre.
Through crowdfunding, RIC raised over $60,000 Australian dollars to pay the lawyers to write a top quality case. The hearing, held in August 2021, heard 80 amicus curiae from all over the world.
And ... we won!!
Mural painted by community anti-mining groups opposite the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, 2021, during the proceedings of the Los Cedros case.
In December 2021, after an exhausting five year campaign, Ecuador's Constitutional Court finally decided in favour of protection for Los Cedros.
Seven of nine judges voted to revoke the environmental license of mining companies Cornerstone Capital Resources and ENAMI, forcing them to cease operations within the reserve. The court ruled that mining activities would irrevocably harm the biodiversity of the forest, which is home to spectacled bears, endangered frogs, dozens of rare orchid species and the brown-headed spider monkey, one of the world’s rarest primates.
The win sets a world first precedent for forests under threat of major extractive industries. It upholds Ecuador's unique Rights of Nature constitutional laws, as well as protecting four major waterways and the rights of local communities to a clean and safe environment.
Fungi castles on the trail. Photo: Liz Downes
Amplifying the Los Cedros legal precedent to the world
Internationally, the court win has inspired efforts in other countries to discuss how Rights of Nature laws could be applied in struggles to protect ecosystems from harm by industrial expansion.
In October 2022, Los Cedros hosted two of the judges who decided in favour of the Rights of Nature at the Court – Agustín Grijalva (who presided over the writing of the ruling) and Ramiro Avila. They had a great time at the reserve, along with a diverse group of local and international supporters.
As well as fun, important meetings were had, in order to strategise the best way forward for Los Cedros. In Ecuador, there is still a large gap between the “ideals” of constitutional rights and their legislative and practical application. Supporters of the reserve pledged to amplify the national and international precedents set by the ruling, involve local communities, and ensure that government agencies and mining companies stick to their legal obligations.
Meanwhile, within Ecuador, mining threats continue to grow, with transnational companies aggressively exploring two million hectares of vulnerable ecosystems and Indigenous lands. The government is pushing this agenda despite widening opposition from communities who do not agree to mining on their lands.
As of 2024, at least four communities have launched or are writing cases based on the constitutional rights enshrined by the Los Cedros precedent. RIC and our volunteer campaigners at Melbourne Rainforest Action Group (MRAG) are committed to supporting these communities to succeed.
Latest News
Vale Josef DeCoux
On 20 May, 2024, our friend José - founder and staunch guardian of the Los Cedros Reserve for nearly 40 years - lost his battle with cancer.
José at the scientific station. Photo: Bitty Roy
From an excellent BBC article which covers an interview José did before he died:
"For more than 30 years, José DeCoux woke each morning to a deafening noise. In his home in Ecuador's Los Cedros forest, monkeys squeal, squirrels scuffle, and 400 species of bird flit and squawk. A mist hangs in the trees, and ferns and mosses in countless shades of green cover every rock and tree trunk.
DeCoux moved to the Los Cedros reserve in northern Ecuador from the US in the 1980s. He was "sort of heeding the call to save the rainforest, or something", he told BBC Future Planet with a smile in April.
With the help of friends and non-profits including Friends of the Earth Sweden and the Rainforest Information Center of Australia, DeCoux bought land in Los Cedros forest, and a conservation and eco-tourism project was born."
José was diagnosed with cancer just as he was embarking on the massive legal battle to save Los Cedros from transnational mining interests. In between bouts of treatment, he coordinated the construction of the legal case which would, in 2021, be won at the Constitutional Court. The historic ruling which upheld the Rights of Nature for the reserve and all its species would not have been possible without José.
Right up until his death he continued to work tirelessly, building the team who will caretake Los Cedros for the future.
"A giant of a man, José will be sorely missed." John Seed
Andean spectacled bear caught dancing on trail camera at Los Cedros. Image provided by Josef de Coux.
Protecting Los Cedros for Future Generations
José has left Los Cedros' future to a management team of dedicated local forest protectors. They are being supported by an active international network of scientists, campaigners, and nonprofit organisations - including the Rainforest Information Centre.
MOTH (More Than Human Rights) is a group of artists, writers, legal professionals and scientists based in the US and UK who are promoting the Los Cedros precedent and the rights of nature.
The two Ecuadorian Constitutional Court judges who wrote the 2021 Rights of Nature ruling, Agustín Grijalva and Ramiro Avila, are leading efforts to build legislation around the Rights of Nature, which may help protect other forests in Ecuador based on the december 2021 precedent.
The local management team have been working very hard, building community initiatives and enterprises within the reserve. Several community projects have already been hosted in 2024, including citizen science and school groups. You can read about these in the blog page on the Los Cedros website.
RIC remains one of the primary financiers of the reserve, crowdraising and contributing funds towards ongoing costs.
Since the court ruling, RIC has provided funds for essential maintenance works at the scientific station. These have included trail upgrades, new visitors' toilets and showers and a new footbridge across the Río Los Cedros.
In 2023, part of a grant from RIC's partner Flow - Billions of Blossoms helped to fund a new accommodation building for scientists and students.
Why Los Cedros is called "cloud" forest. Photo: Liz Downes
Does Los Cedros still need your help?
The answer is YES!!
The permanent protection of the reserve is a long work in progress.
Things are progressing well, but there continue to be ongoing financial costs. Income from visitors and community programs is not yet enough for the long-term financial sustainability of the reserve.
If you would like to support Los Cedros, please do so through our Ecuador Endangered crowdfund
or by direct donation to RIC.
Thank you!
Los Cedros Rainfrog (Pristimantis cedros), a species only found in the reserve and nearby Manduriacu River. Photo: Morley Read
Research Publications
Read these publications by scientists who work or have worked in the reserve, and were deeply involved in the legal fight to save it:
R. Vandegrift et al, 2022 - Richer than Gold: the fungal biodiversity of Reserva Los Cedros, a threatened Andean cloud forest
B. Roy et al, 2018 - New mining concessions will severely decrease biodiversity and ecosystem services in Ecuador
Media about the Los Cedros court case, the win, and its significance
Rights of Nature in Ecuador by Rebekah Hayden, The Ecologist, 2020
Ecuador's High Court Affirms Constitutional Protections for the Rights of Nature in a Landmark Decision by Katie Surma, Inside Climate News, 2021
More on the Rights of Nature in Ecuador and worldwide
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