Cuyabeno - Yasuni - Limoncocha
FAUNA PRODUCTION CUYABENO RESERVATION
These zones have an extension of 435.500 hectares. It is considered a zone of tropical wet forest that houses a great diversity of animals and vegetable species, many of them endemic.
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The relief of the area is quite variable and irregular. The climate is typical of the tropical jungle, with abundant rains during most of the year.
In the zone of Imuya we define two annual stations: a rainy and dry. In the first one there exists progressive settlements of aquatic species that grow and germinate rapidly, while in the second, the lagoons tend to dry out in its entirety and there exists a high migration of aquatic animals toward the principal rivers. This intangible zone is crossed by the rivers Cuyabeno, Aguarico, Zábalo, Lagarto, as well as by a huge group of lagoons and rivers, shared with Peru.
The lacustre system of the Imuya and Lagarto rivers, the only in the world for its great extension, that surpasses 10.000 hectares, as well as by the variation of its depth and the presence of huge swamps of palm around it. It constitutes a part of a humid system that forms one of the few flood sample areas in the Ecuadorean Amazon. Along this ecosystem we find many species that threatened in other places due to the destruction of the habitat. Among them are the pink dolphin and the manatee, the gigantic otter, the capibara, the tintín, the guanta, the guatusa, the peccary, the red deer, the howling monkey, the chichico, the boa, the alligators and others.
We also find vegetable and tree species like the macrolobión, the ceiba, various gender palms such as the pambil, chontaduro and the chambira. In addition to aquatic plants, the vegetation of the riversides is variable. Among the fruit-bearing plants we have the coconuts, the nuts, the peanut tree, the guabas, the wild sapote, the tree grape, the wild cocoa, the cesezo dirt.
The seeds are transported through the rivers. It has been proven that, the fish fulfil a most important role in the dispersion of the plant seeds because they eat the fruits that fall of the trees during the flooded season. These seeds are carried to distant places where they grow.
PARQUE NACIONAL YASUNÍ
The other intangible zone is the Nucleus of the National Park Yasuní and the Tagaeri – Taromenae territory. With a surface of 700.000 hectares, it encompasses the south part of the National Park Yasuní and part of the southeast of the Huaorani territory. These zones are devoted to the maximum protection of the park biosphere reservation. It is also recognized as territory of the Huaorani groups who have not been reached by any type of civilization and they are known as Tagaeri and Taromenae.
The National Park Yasuní extends in the basins of the Yasuní, Conomaco, Nashiño and Tiputini Rivers. There are elevation areas where a formed landscape prevails by an infinite succession of small hills, as well as flat zones that are seen affected permanently by floods in the rainy season, due to the flooding of the rivers. This is where swampy zones are formed.
The vast forest of the Yasuní is one of the richest and varied. Among the different kinds of wood we find motilones, cinnamon-trees, copals, balsam, mahogany, cainito, jigua , sapote, and others like the balsa and the tagua which the indigenous use for the elaboration of their crafts. The kinds of common palms are the chambira, the chonta, the palmito, pambil and the hungurahua, this last one is used by the indigenous as food, medicine and construction material.
The flora varies according to the topography. In some hills, the soil possesses greater drainage level, where different species grow such as the tallest trees used for wood. Also abundant are the epifitas, orquids and bromelias. In the low zones, on the other hand, there is an abundance of red and clayey soils with plants such as the balsa, the chambira, the brave cane, the guarumo, the higuerón and the higuilla. In the morichales, or swamps not very deep exist the moretes, while in firm land the principal vegetation is composed of ceibo, sapota, clavelí or may flower.
There also exist great predators in the place, as the jaguar and the puma, it is an example that the fauna still maintains a balance with its environment. Species like the gigantic armadillo, the anteater, the danta, great variety of monkeys, the puma, the manatee, the lazy and the guanta are common in the zone.
It has been determined that there exists more than 500 bird species of exceptional beauty like the macaws, parrots, toucans and the harpy eagle. Regarding the mammals, 173 species have been registered , nevertheless, some estimates indicate that there are 200, which corresponds to 57% of all the mammals of the country of Ecuador. The oil activity in the National Park Yasuní and the impact it generates, has increased the extinction threat to some species as it is the case of the spider monkey and the chorongo whose habitat has been reduced to the western sector of the park.
RESERVA BIOLÓGICA LIMONCOCHA
