Ecuador has become the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to recognise Important Bird Areas (IBAs) as sites of public interest for conservation – joining the United States, Canada, Mexico, Tunisia and the European Union in officially embracing IBAs as important instruments for the conservation of birds, biodiversity and their habitat.

A true test of this support will come when the Ecuadorian government decides how to deal with the proposed longline fishing issue in the Galapagos Islands National Park, a designated IBA. The Galapagos support over 10,000 breeding pairs of Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata, the largest and most important colony in the world for this threatened species.

"It's great news that the most important sites in Ecuador for birdlife have now been acknowledged by the government. This official recognition sets a precedent in South America that we hope will serve as an example for uniting the Andes in a regional effort to conserve its world-renowned biodiversity." —Sandra Loor Vela, CECIA

Ecuador's holds a stunning range of birdlife, with more than 1,600 bird species recorded in an area just the size of the United Kingdom. Over a hundred IBAs have been identified in Ecuador through the participation of the country’s top biologists, scientists and ecotourism representatives. This ambitious programme was coordinated by CECIA (BirdLife in Ecuador).

In 1997, “Mindo and Northwestern Pichincha Volcano” was identified as the first IBA in the Americas. In 2003, as part of a national workshop on IBAs, 106 further sites were identified including 10 in the Galapagos Islands, 44 along the coast, 47 in the Andean highlands, and 6 in the Amazon lowlands. These preliminary results were presented in 2003 at the first National Congress on Protected Areas in Ecuador.

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