Deforestation in Continental Ecuador with a Focus on Protected Areas

Janina Kleemann,Camilo Zamora,Michael Thiel,Jin Kyoung Noh,Pablo Cuenca,Christine Fürst,Hongmi Koo,Alexandra Belen Villacis-Chiluisa

doi:10.3390/land11020268

Abstract

Forest conservation is of particular concern in tropical regions where a large refuge of biodiversity is still existing. These areas are threatened by deforestation, forest degradation and fragmentation. Especially, pressures of anthropogenic activities adjacent to these areas significantly influence conservation effectiveness. Ecuador was chosen as study area since it is a globally relevant center of forest ecosystems and biodiversity. We identified hotspots of deforestation on the national level of continental Ecuador between 1990 and 2018, analyzed the most significant drivers of deforestation on national and biome level (the Coast, the Andes, The Amazon) as well as inside protected areas in Ecuador by using multiple regression analysis. We separated the national system of protected areas (SNAP) into higher and lower protection levels. Besides SNAP, we also considered Biosphere Reserves (BRs) and Ramsar sites. In addition, we investigated the rates and spatial patterns of deforestation in protected areas and buffer zones (5 km and 10 km outwards the protected area boundaries) using landscape metrics. Between 1990 and 2018, approximately 4% of the accumulated deforestation occurred within the boundaries of SNAP, and up to 25.5% in buffer zones. The highest rates of deforestation have been found in the 5 km buffer zone around the protected areas with the highest protection level. Protected areas and their buffer zones with higher protection status were identified as the most deforested areas among SNAP. BRs had the highest deforestation rates among all protected areas but most of these areas just became BRs after the year 2000. The most important driver of deforestation is agriculture. Other relevant drivers differ between the biomes. The results suggest that the SNAP is generally effective to prevent deforestation within their protection boundaries. However, deforestation around protected areas can undermine conservation strategies to sustain biodiversity. Actions to address such dynamics and patterns of deforestation and forest fragmentation, and developing conservation strategies of their landscape context are urgently needed especially in the buffer zones of areas with the highest protection status.

Highlights

Forest ecosystems provide essential ecosystem services such as climate and water regulation, erosion prevention, carbon storage, timber, non-timber products, tourism and recreation [1,2,3]
Forest fragmentation is higher inside protected areas (PAs) with higher protection status than areas of lower protection status
We identified agriculture as the main driver of deforestation on national level, biome level and in PAs

Summary

Introduction

Forest ecosystems provide essential ecosystem services such as climate and water regulation, erosion prevention, carbon storage, timber, non-timber products, tourism and recreation [1,2,3]. Mountain forest catchments play an important role in runoff generation [4] and tropical rainforest influences the global carbon cycle [5,6]. Forests provide important habitat for flora and fauna. Many forest ecosystems are threatened by land use changes. Deforestation causes for example loss of species [8,9], carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases [10], soil erosion, and loss of organic matter [11]. More than 20,000 tree species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened

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