Bilsa Biological Reserve

Habitat and location

The 3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) Bilsa Biological Station is a nature preserve and a center for field research and environmental education in northwestern coastal Ecuador. Founded in 1994 by our partner in memory of conservation biologists Al Gentry and Ted Parker, Bilsa conserves a critical remnant of Ecuador's coastal premontane wet forest, of which less than one percent remains. Located in the Mache Mountains in the northwestern coastal province of Esmeraldas, this remnant forest has a unique composition of flora and fauna, internationally renowned for both its diversity and rarity. Although physically isolated from the Andes, Bilsa possesses species also encountered in the western Andean middle elevation cloud forests 100 km to the southwest, as well as species endemic to the Choco, a pluvial forest of southern coastal Colombia, and species common to the generally dryer Tumbesian Bio-region.

The region's rugged topography (300 to 800 meters) and the coastal climate create a dense fog which shrouds all of Bilsa's steeper ridges. Rare animals found at the reserve include the Jaguar, several small cat species, the Long Wattled Umbrella Bird, the Giant Anteater and abundant populations of the threatened Mantled Howler Monkey.

Bilsa facilities are available for use by researchers, university students, interns, natural history visitors and tour groups. Surveys of Bilsa's mammals, reptiles and birds have been conducted, with remarkable results. The reserve's bird species diversity (about 330 species) is among the highest of any coastal site in Ecuador. Bilsa also harbors several threatened bird species, and contains isolated populations of 9 bird species never before recorded outside the Andes. The ongoing botanical inventory at Bilsa has uncovered 30 plant species new to science.

Center for the Conservation of Western Forest Plants

In 1996, our partner established the Center for the Conservation of Western Forest Plants at the Bilsa reserve. The Center serves as a base for community extension and outreach program emphasizing agroforestry, health, environmental education and the development of community management plans. Each year the Center produces approximately 100,000 tree saplings annually for use in reforestation projects in and around the reserve, including 80 species of tropical fruit and nut trees and 50 local mature forest woody species. In addition, the Center is working to establish ornamental gardens in the cabin areas at Bilsa.

Protect an acre program

Our partner is seeking donations to purchase additional intact forest land around Bilsa while the opportunity still exists. Expansion of the reserve will ensure protection of most of the species in this unique, unstudied and endangered coastal rainforest. In 1996 the Ecuadorian government established the Mache-Chindul Ecological reserve to protect the forested area northwest of Bilsa.