From the cloud forests of the Andean highlands to the tropical wet forests of the Amazon and the Chocó, coastal lowlands and, of course, the Galapagos islands, Ecuador is home to some 23,056 taxonomic species–6.1 percent of total global species–and one-sixth of the world’s bird species (1,600).
Thanks to a very good, though, in places, very bumpy road system connecting the country’s various ecoregions, nature and wildlife tourism are also very convenient in Ecuador. The coast, the highlands and the eastern Amazonian and Chocoan regions are all connected by good roads that allow for easy transportation and touring around the country.
What’s more, Ecuador is also quite regionally unique in terms of its environmental history. Its exceptionally high biodiversity has long attracted both attention and project funding from international conservation and environmental organizations, including Conservation International, the WWF and the United States Agency for International Development.
