The Amazon jungle is the world’s largest tropical forest. It covers more than 6 million sq. km crossing nine countries, including Ecuador with 2% of the Amazon basin within its borders (117,300 sq. km).
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
The reserve is located in the provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana at the northern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon basin. Created in 1979, the reserve spans an area of 590,112 ha (1,458,198 acres) with altitudes ranging from 177 to 326 m.a.s.l.
It is named after the Cuyabeno River which overflows during its course creating a group of 14 lagoons and it is the largest wetland área in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. It has been historically protected by the indigenous ethnic inhabitants of the reserve: Siona, Secoya, Cofan, Kichwa and Shuar nationalities.
The Cuyabeno Reserve has 1,400 known species of plants, but some studies estimate it could reach up to 4,000 species. The most diverse hectare in the world is inside the Cuyabeno Reserve with 473 tree species with trunks bigger than 5 cm (Valencia et al., 1994).
