Sunka Biological Station
Sunka Biological Station in southeast Ecuador, near the town of Macuma, is a recently re-inaugurated Amazonian research station that welcomes non-academic visitors.
At one point only reachable by charter plane or several days of arduous hiking, the arrival of the Panamerican highway now provides easier access to Sunka and the Cutucú Mountains—a range partially isolated from the Andes and of immense botanical and general biological interest and importance.
The station has registered an impressive number of species, including:
- 269 bird species around Sunka Station
- 562 bird species in the Cutucú Mountains (near Sunka)
- 56 amphibian species
- 37 bat species
- 50 butterfly species
With hundreds of plant species, invertebrates, snakes, and more waiting to be discovered.
A site that once served as the location for the Menéndez y Pelayo International University and the Spanish Council for Research’s field courses in the Master’s Programme in Tropical Areas and Their Conservation, Sunka has recently been reborn after several years offline.
It is a joint collaboration between Spanish conservation biologist Robin Corria and the local Shuar indigenous community, protecting almost 150 hectares of primary Napo foothill forest, amphibian breeding areas, numerous cave systems, elfin forest at higher elevations, and various cultural, archaeological and biological sites of interest.
It offers basic but comfortable accommodations to intrepid nature and wildlife travellers. Improvement efforts are ongoing and subject to funding.