The Sacred Sueños Eco Sanctuary was founded in 2004 with the purchase of 10 hectares of land close to the Podocarpus National Park, in southern Ecuador. Much more land was donated in 2009. The second piece had cattle on it until the donation, and both were recovering from regular burning until 2001. With the fires lit just before the hard monsoon rains, the steep hillside suffered from intense erosion.
Sacred Sueños began as a regeneration project. Some areas were planted, and earthworks were made to stop erosion and catch water. The bracken that dominated the landscape, was cleared. After that, we left it to natural regeneration,
letting wild species volunteer, and natural ecological succession take place, with very minimal pruning.
Our responsibility as stewards of the Sanctuary are now mainly to protect it from fire and livestock encroachment, document the developing ecosystems, and to build & maintain the refuge and trails.
This is just a taste of the botanical diversity within the Eco Sanctuary. There are many we haven’t yet taken photos of… And of the photos we have, so many that we haven’t yet identified. We’d appreciate any leads or identification of the photos that we’ve put in the UNKNOWNIACEAE family at the bottom.
If you like what you’re seeing, and want more, higher resolution photos, and to support this project, send us a crypto donation or buy our e-book.
