Biodiversity in the Chocó-Manabí Corridor is threatened by a variety of human activities. The degree of threat varies considerably within the corridor, with some areas among the most threatened on the continent (coastal Ecuador) and others (northern Chocó) still largely intact. The northern Chocó region, for example, lacks major roads, ports and other infrastructure that would allow easy penetration of the forest. However, large-scale development is planned, with train routes, roads, a large canal, and hydroelectric dams being considered by the government and private interests. Direct threats include deforestation, regional integration projects, fishing and shrimp farming, mining, illegal crops, population growth, and social conflict. These threats are discussed below in the context of associated development projects, as well as the opportunities they offer to improve conservation practices in the corridor.
Deforestation is a principal threat to biodiversity in the region. The root cause of poor forest and timber management is disorderly settlement and expansion of the agricultural frontier driven by poverty, land scarcity, and population growth. The Ecuadorian portion of the corridor is most acutely threatened, with only 2% of the original lowland forest remaining.
In coastal Ecuador, logging is taking place on approximately 50,000 hectares, including some land within national parks and other protected areas. Some 225,000 hectares have been deforested in the past ten years. Over the past 30 years, the northwestern forests of Esmeraldas Province have been the most significantly altered. A 1989 study by Fundación Natura and EcoCiencia cites rapid conversion, fragmentation, and consequent isolation of the forest as the primary threat to plant and animal species along the coast. The study revealed that, of the 6,300 species of vascular plants estimated in the region, some 20% are in danger of extinction. Fundación Natura's 1992 forest inventory and assessment in Esmeraldas identified five critically threatened forests: San Lorenzo, Borbón, Quininde I, Mache-Cube-Muisne and the Guayallabamba River basin. The study concludes that intense pressure on the forests originates from local Afro-Ecuadorian and indigenous communities, which are often driven by economic need and the demands of large and small logging companies operating in the area. It also points to the presence of corrupt officials as exacerbating the problem.
In Colombia, coastal forests have experienced heavy logging for over 40 years, contributing 60% of the wood consumed in the country, with the Guandal and Sajal forests especially affected by logging.The following activities are factors that contribute to deforestation:
Mestizo groups convert forested land near settlements for farming, livestock, and speculation. In the Baudó River region of Colombia, spontaneous colonization is a serious problem, as some 80% of the forests are converted to other uses - such as slash-and-burn agriculture - and high-value timber species are harvested. In many cases, settlers invaded national park areas before the parks had been declared or established, clearing forests, mining, and exploiting wildlife to the point of extinction, especially within the Tatamá, Farallones de Cali and Munchique national parks.
Unsustainable extraction is particularly serious along the western Andean slopes and terraces in mixed forests, the mangrove forests, and the Guandal and Naidi palm forests of the lowlands. In both countries, Afro-descendant and indigenous communities are poor. Many of their traditional low-impact extraction and production practices become more invasive in their efforts to make a meager living from these resources. In Colombia, antiquated sawmills waste up to 60% of the raw logs, limiting the potential impact of timber management there. The southwestern regions (Tumaco, Satinga, and lower San Juan Rivers and the lower Calima River) are the most affected.
Unlicensed logging has caused market failures in the region. Illegal logging is stimulated by short-term logging permits, often issued for periods of only one year, and by the practice of permitting the regional autonomous corporations to selectively extract high-value timber species. The timber sector is prone to exploitation by middlemen, who profit from the industry at the expense of the poor. While the poor carry out the logging, mainly as tree-cutters and haulers (some 70%live off or engage in logging in the Colombian Chocó), the benefits and returns to them are minimal.
Ranching can involve large-scale conversion of forests into pasture, causing extensive ecosystem degradation and loss of habitat. In Colombia, cattle ranching takes place mainly in the Andean and sub-Andean highlands and in the cloud forests, as in Alto Calima, southern Nariño, Tumaco-Ricaurte, and Cali-Buenaventura. The sub-Andean highlands of Nariño are the most affected. In Ecuador, cattle ranching contributes to large-scale forest conversion and destruction of wetlands in areas around Guayaquil.
Forests, river flats, wetlands, and hillsides are being displaced by non-sustainable production of banana, plantain, cocoa, coffee and African palm, among other crops. This trend has been a major cause of habitat and species destruction - particularly in coastal Ecuador, where agricultural activities have doubled from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. These activities have attracted outside capital (foreign and domestic) and displaced Afro-American and indigenous populations from their traditional lands, forcing them to occupy national parks and protected areas. This has occurred in the Awá Ethnic Reserve and in the Mache Chindul Ecological Reserve in Ecuador. The results include overexploitation of land, ecosystem fragmentation, and displacement of indigenous communities from their traditional lands. While African palm plantations represent the largest monoculture in Esmeraldas, it is ninth in ecological impact (behind substitution of pasture, which has altered more Chocoan landscape than any other activity). Coffee and cocoa plantations, among others, are also significant causes of conversion. So far, in Colombia, African palm is mainly grown in the municipality of Tumaco.
Regional integration projects have promoted modernization in the Chocó-Manabí Conservation Corridor, particularly in the Department of Chocó (Colombia), and in the Provinces of Esmeraldas and Manabí in coastal Ecuador. Modernization has largely involved large-scale development projects (roads, canals, dams, ports, and other infrastructure) to connect the Pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador with the interior. These projects have stimulated ecosystem degradation and thus threatened biodiversity.
Colombia's Plan Pacifico has generated considerable attention within the environmental and indigenous rights communities. The Plan, conceived in 1974, is an ambitious development program that aims to grow the Choco's economy through the construction of infrastructure and exploitation of the region's natural wealth. Infrastructure projects include roads, hydroelectric and energy plants, and telecommunications networks. This infrastructure is designed to boost forestry, fishing, agriculture, and mining. Environmentalists and indigenous rights groups are concerned about the impacts of such a large project on traditional social and economic structures and on the environment, expressing concern that the large-scale development will severely damage the region's biological diversity. Within these regional integration projects, five aspects are of particular concern from a conservation perspective:
In Colombia, the most significant road projects include the road to the San Juan River estuary, the coastal road connecting Colombia and Ecuador's coastal zone, and the road connecting Pasto-Tumaco, Las Animas-Nuqui, Popayan-López de Micay, Bahía Solano-El Valle, Pereira-Tado-Quibdo, and Aguila, Valle-Siqui. In Ecuador, the native forests of Esmeraldas were cleared by the second half of the 20th century when the first access roads from Quito and Guayaquil were built in the region. The rate of road construction increased between 1960 and 1980, as did the destruction of native forests, especially along the coasts of the Provinces of Guayas and Manabí.
Canals affect Colombia and Ecuador as mangrove ecosystems have been altered and natural water flow redirected. Examples include the Hidrovía del Sur in Colombia, which has connected wetlands and natural channels between mangroves to shorten travel distances between Tumaco and Buenaventura. Around Guayaquil, large flood control works have resulted in the destruction of mangroves and other fragile habitat.
In Colombia, dam construction sites include the Alto San Juan River; Garrapatas-Sanquiní River; Calima III (from Cauca to Calima rivers); Arrieros del Micay; Mira and Telembí rivers; and Microcentral along the Micay River.
Free trade policies have encouraged construction of ports in order to connect isolated regions with the rest of the world via the Pacific. These initiatives have attracted colonists who, in turn, have negative ecological and social impact on the region. For example, Tribugá Port has created problems in Utría National Park. The Free Trade Area in Buenaventura Port also has the potential to affect a large area.
Major pipeline construction, ongoing and proposed, threatens several ecologically sensitive terrestrial and coastal areas. The imminent construction of the Trans-Ecuadorian pipeline will bisect the Chocó-Manabi Conservation Corridor. While the direct impact of the pipeline is likely to be minimal, the long-term impacts could be significant, particularly on ecotourism in such areas as Mindo. In fact, pollution along the pipeline is already occurring. In 2001, five pipeline ruptures released over 100,000 gallons of heavy crude oil, contaminating watersheds in the corridor.
Overfishing and shrimp farming have been major factors behind the destruction of mangroves throughout Ecuador, causing very serious social and environmental impacts as shellfish, mollusks, and timber have become scarce and as local residents have been displaced off their traditional land. Water quality as a result of poor shrimp farming practices has plummeted. Many residents have been forced to resettle in other areas or move into towns and cities, contributing further to urban growth.
In Colombia, shrimp farming has caused serious changes in the trophic chain as mangroves have been removed and replaced with shrimp ponds. Such activities are concentrated in the departments of Nariño, in the wetlands of Agua Clara, and around Tumaco and Cape Manglares.
In Ecuador, the northern Guandal forests have been removed, and construction of dikes for shrimp ponds downstream has caused rivers to back up and alter their flows, with environmental impact yet to be fully assessed. From 1969 to 1995, approximately 54,000 hectares (27%) of mangroves disappeared in Ecuador, concentrating along the estuaries of the Chone, Muisne, Guayas, and Cojimies. Two of these estuaries are in Esmeraldas, between the Mataje, Santiago and Cayapas rivers, where settlers depend on the mangroves for fish and lumber. Along the coast in the corridor, shrimp ponds are concentrated in the Muisne estuary, where they cover approximately 490 hectares.
Mining was historically the mainstay of the regional economy. The presence of Afro-American communities is the result of importation of African labor mainly for mining. Destruction of riverbanks, siltation, and contamination of rivers and streams usually accompany mining.
In Colombia, mining for gold by means of dredges, drags, and backhoes in main channels and along banks has damaged rivers and displaced whole communities. This type of mining is especially concentrated along the San Juan, Tado, Ismina, Telembi, Barbacos, and Iscuande rivers, and along the banks of the Yurumangui, Cajambre, Raposo and Mayorquin.
In Ecuador, the government has issued mining concessions in approximately 136,000 hectares for exploration and approximately 19,600 hectares for production. Gold concessions are concentrated in the Playa de Oro and along the Mira and Mataje rivers in Esmeraldas. Marble and other nonmetallic minerals are also extracted.
It is not known how extensively coca and opium poppy are grown in the Chocó-Manabí Corridor. When these crops are grown, forests are converted and habitat is lost. Moreover, policing these activities is dangerous and, with the near-withdrawal of most state services from certain regions (Darién and lower Atrato River in Colombia), enforcement is not even attempted. The cultivation of these crops displaces people out of the areas where they are grown, as in the departments of Nariño, the municipality of Olaya Herrera, and along the Chaguí River, and to lesser extent in the Andean forests.
Drug eradication and associated violence has displaces more than a million people in Colombia. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) may indeed grow as Plan Colombia, the $7.5 billion coca eradication and alternative development program, is implemented. Some IDP absorption programs may be situated in municipalities in the Chocó. If not properly planned, new infrastructure and facilities may open up new habitat to colonization.
Population density and growth in the Chocó-Manabí Corridor is greater in Ecuador than in Colombia. The population of Ecuador increased from 4.4 million in 1960 to 11.5 million in 1995. Human settlements in and around Guayaquil have destroyed large tracts of wetlands. Both in Colombia and Ecuador, population growth has forced mestizos to settle protected areas, resulting in loss of biodiversity and habitat.
Threats to biodiversity posed by social conflict are more pronounced in Colombia than in Ecuador, and involve armed groups seeking to assume political power and usurp land and other resources- including the lands supporting or buffering ethnic communities. These factions are concentrated in the areas of Tumaco, the frontier roads between Colombia and Ecuador, upper San Juan River, the territories of Eperara Siapidara, and along the rivers Saija and Satinga.
These conflicts seriously affect biodiversity protection. Most state regulatory efforts are impeded, including enforcement efforts by guards and wardens, some of whom have been killed, prompting the national parks system to halt park protection services. Civilian visitors are barred from many Colombian reserves, including Katios, Paramillo, Tatamá, Farallones de Cali, and Munchique. Civil unrest has greatly affected work in the region and is a significant problem that will be a key factor in determining the pace and progress of conservation activities.
Previous: Biological Importance / Next: Synopsis of Current Investments