Education and communication strategy for the Ecuadorian brown-headed spider monkey conservation in north western Ecuador

Nancy Nathalia Fuentes Salcedo

Since 2012 Proyecto Washu has been working in the buffer zone of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, mainly in the area of Tesoro Escondido where one of the last health populations of the Critically Endangered Ecuadorian brown-headed spider monkey can be found. This area belongs to the Chocó bioregion, one of the 25 hotspots of the planet. This mega-biodiverse and highly threatened region has only 2% of the original forest coverage remaining in Ecuador. Education and outreach programs are imperative to raise-awareness of nature conservation in both mestizo and indigenous communities that live within the remaining Chocoan forests in north western Ecuador.