Guandera Biological Station

The Guandera Biological Station was established in 1994 and is situated in the northern inter-Andean valley of Ecuador. The station is managed by the Jatun Sacha Foundation and is located in Ecuador's Carchi Province..

A verdant and species rich valley in the highest reaches of the Andes, Guandera represents the last of forest type that once carpeted the upper slopes of moister valleys within the tropical Andes from Colombia to Peru. With unusual and often unique plant forms, Guandera’s appearance is similar to that of a lowland tropical rainforest. However, this forest is nearly 2 ½ miles above sea level and evening temperatures hover around freezing. Also stretching above the tree line, Guandera’s protected area includes an expansive and unique páramo – a type of moist, alpine grassland whose bizarre plant forms create an almost otherworldly landscape. A last haven for the Andean spectacled bear, Andean fox, mountain lion, and the grey-breasted mountain-toucan, as well as species found only here – such as an endemic cotinga, it is the last place of its kind.

In Ecuador, the Andes are divided into two parallel Cordilleras – ranges of lofty mountains hyphenated only by occasional passes and massive, glacier-domed strato-volcanoes. Between these two great ranges lies the Central Valley, whose rich soils and temperate climes support much of the country’s modern population. In fact, this has been the case for millennia. Pre-Columbian civilizations have long toiled the rich volcanic soils found here for crops such as corn, legumes, potatoes and other indigenous tubers as well as to produce textiles derived from the wool of alpacas and llamas, native camelids domesticated by these peoples. Just prior to European contact, Guandera lay in the northernmost reaches of the Incan Empire and to this day is perched above one of Ecuador’s richest agricultural zones. The valley below is intensively cultivated by mestizo farmers – descendents of the Incas whose blood is mixed with that of their European conquerors. As populations and the demand for industrialized crops continue to expand, the cultivated zone of the valley continues to encroach on the remnant forest surrounding the privately protected Guandera Biological Station.

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