Commercial exploitation threatens Iriartea deltoidea and Wettinia quinaria in Northwestern Ecuador
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Date
2012
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Publisher
PUCE - Quito
Abstract
In Ecuador, the conservation of natural forests is regulated by dozens of environmental laws (e.g., CITES, 1973; Ley Forestal, 1981; MAE, 2001; see de la Torre et al., 2011). In practice, however, the effectiveness of these regulations is doubtful: the country suffers a 1.8% annual loss of native forest (from 2000 to 2010), which is the highest deforestation rate reported for South America (FAO, 2010). In fact, from 1990 to 2008, 12,375 km2 of forests were depleted from Ecuador (4.5 % of the territory; MAE, 2011). Clearly, regulations and policies intended to develop rural areas and to strengthen the economy have been prioritized over those intended to conserve nature. As for instance, the agrarian reform and colonization law (in force between 1964 and 1994), and policies enacted to develop the national road network (in the mid-1980s, and early 2000s, e.g., CONADE, 1985; MOP, 2002) have promoted forest fragmentation and countrywide deforestation (Añazco et al., 2010; Falconí and Burneo, 2005). One alternative to slow down deforestation may be the sustainable use (maintenance of viable and healthy populations of species that are harvested by humans) of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), whose commercialization may also provide...
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Keywords
Recursos naturales - Ecuador, Bosques naturales - Conservación - Ecuador., Deforestación - Aspectos ambientales - Ecuador., Política forestal - Ecuador.