The Tropical Andes
Hotspot
Ecosystem Profile Summary

About CEPF

How CEPF Works

Biodiversity is fundamental to a healthy planet and thriving
communities, but the world’s species are under extreme threat.
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) fills a unique,strategic role in addressing the extinction crisis by mobilizing
and empowering civil society—nongovernmental organizations,communities, Indigenous peoples groups, academic entities
and more—to protect the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Since
2001, CEPF has catalyzed enduring, locally led biodiversity
conservation through more than US$278 million in grants to over
2,660 organizations in 109 developing and transitional countries.
Results include more than 16 million hectares of new protectedareas established, 1,100 threatened species supported, and morethan 4,300 communities benefiting.

Donor
Partners

CEPF

The Hotspot
Indigenous and Local Communities

Local, National and International NGOs

Academia

CEPF is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement,
Conservation International, the European Union, the Global
Environment Facility, the Government of Japan and the WorldBank. CEPF’s program in Ecuador is financed by the German
Government through KfW.

Private Sector

The Tropical Andes is one of 36

It is the main source of water forbiodiversity hotspots in the world thatthe 59.7 million people living in thetogether cover 16.7% of the Earth’s

hotspot—including four capital cities—

land surface. Most hotspots are inand for millions who live outside thetropical countries that have complex

hotspot’s boundaries. The Tropicalpolitical systems and face major

Andes also has the second largest

economic and human development

irrecoverable carbon stock of the 36challenges.

hotspots.

The Tropical Andes Hotspot covers
vast areas of Ecuador, Colombia,Bolivia and Peru as well as sections

Tropical Andes Hotspot

of Venezuela, Chile and Argentina. Its
158 million hectares exceed the area ofFrance, Spain and Germany combined.
The hotspot’s diverse climates alongwith its complex geography andgeology have allowed for the evolutionof multiple habitats and extraordinary
biological diversity, resulting in the
Tropical Andes having the highest
level of biodiversity of any of theworld’s biodiversity hotspots. The
mountains, valleys and plateaus of theTropical Andes also have among thehighest concentrations of endangered
species in the world.

Forest of polylepis trees, Bolivia. © Marcia Salvatierra
Cover photos left to right:Páramo Los Nevados National Park, Colombia © O. LangrandEcuador Cochran frog (Nymphargus griffithsi), El Plata community, Carchi Province, Ecuador © Víctor Eduardo Obando Clavijo

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

2Marías District, Dos de Mayo Province, Peru. © Micheel N. Cotrina Fabián

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY3Biological Importanceof the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot
It is theMOST SPECIES-RICH

HOTSPOT ON THE PLANET,
both in absolute number of species and in total
number of endemic species, except for reptiles.

IT IS HOME TO MORE THAN

30,000

BIRD DIVERSITY IS GREATER IN THE TROPICAL ANDES
THAN IN ANY OTHER HOTSPOT—more than

IT HAS A COMPLEX
MOSAIC OF

130

Cinnamon flycatcher (Pyrrhomyiascinnamomeus), Colombia.
© O. Langrand

ECOSYSTEMSTHE HOTSPOT’S RICH WILDLIFEINCLUDES NEARLY

WITH PARTICULARLYHIGH BIODIVERSITY.

600

SPECIES OF VASCULAR PLANTS,
accounting for about

Zongo Valley, Bolivia.
© Trond Larsen

10%

Rainforest near Manu National Park, Peru. © Daniel Rosengren/FZS PerúSPECIES OF
MAMMALS,

WHICH CONSTITUTESof the world’sspecies.

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOT

2,000

MORE THAN

9%

ECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

4OF THE GLOBAL
DIVERSITY OF
THIS GROUP.

SPECIES OF BIRDS ARE
FOUND HERE AND ONE-THIRD
OF THEM ARE ENDEMIC.

WITH

1,120

SPECIES OF AMPHIBIANS,IT IS THE

MOST DIVERSEAMPHIBIAN HOTSPOTIN THE WORLD.

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

5Cultural Importanceof the Hotspot
The Tropical Andes is a region of exceptional cultural diversity.

Threats

THE REGION IS

The greatest threats to the hotspot are
climate change, mining, deforestation andagricultural encroachment.

HOME TO
10 MILLION

Colombia, Ecuador and northern andcentral Peru are at the greatest risk.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
FROM MORE THAN

Indigenous women receive certificates at handicrafts workshop. © Charles Ebelio Romay Mérida

50

3.9 million hectares were deforested in theregion between 2001 and 2019.

ETHNICGROUPS.

New road construction is a catalyst forother threats (such as mining, agriculture
and urban growth).

INDIGENOUSTERRITORYOCCUPIES AT
LEASTDeforestation, Bolivia. © Trond Larsen

Tragically, environmental defenders andleaders are the targets of violence andassassinations in some areas.

21%
OF THE
HOTSPOT.
Resident of a community near the Q’eros-Kosñipata Regional Conservation Area, Peru. © Michell Leon/Pronaturaleza

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

6

Dead mangrove trees, Colombia. © Robin Moore/iLCPTHE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

7

Key Resultsof CEPF’s 2015–2019 Investment

Michell Leon/PRONATURALEZA232.9

new protectedareas covering

MILLION HECTARES

678,460 HECTARESof Key Biodiversity Areas underimproved management.

established with support fromCEPF grantees.

100286PROJECTSSPECIES BENEFITED(at least 70 Endangered or
Critically Endangered).

implemented by 65 civil society
organizations (55 local groups) with74

US$9.5 MILLION
in grants.

SPECIES BELIEVED TO BE

NEW TO SCIENCEDISCOVERED,with

23 CONFIRMED.

Military macaw (Ara militaris), Peru. © Michell Leon/Pronaturaleza

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

839Andeanorganizations
strengthened.

THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOT9Indigenousor ethnic
groups supported.

ECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY93.
In Peru, the regional government of Amazonas approved theaction plan for the conservation of the Critically Endangered
yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) and theEndangered Andean night monkey (Aotus miconax). The plan wasdeveloped by the Peruvian organization Yunkawasi. As a direct
result of Yunkawasi’s efforts, the government of Peru issued 10
million commemorative one Sol coins to raise awareness of theplight and importance of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey. The
action plan also contributed to Yunkawasi securing new funding
to get vital habitat protected for the primates.

5 CEPF Grantee
Successes
1.

4.

In Colombia, a grant to the Pialapí Pueblo Viejo Indigenous
authority strengthened management of the La Planada
Ecological Reserve through the establishment andimplementation of a management plan. The associatedinstallation of communications equipment proved to bea game changer. Previously, the reserve and surrounding
communities worked in near isolation. The communications
equipment gave reserve staff access to the outside world.
The equipment proved to be essential during the COVID-19
shutdowns to communicate on public health and security
concerns. In addition, youth in the community are learning
how to use social media to raise public awareness of the site’s
importance for biodiversity and people.

Support to the Consejo Regional T’simane Mosetene(CRTM) in Bolivia —which represents 23 Indigenouscommunities— resulted in the preparation of a management plan and “Life Plan” (Plan de Vida) for the Pilón Lajas
Biosphere Reserve. The project represented a milestone inBolivia, marking the first time that an Indigenous authority led the preparation of a management plan for a national
protected area. The plan offered a guide to management
priorities, which CEPF subsequently helped financed. One
such project supported training of women in activities
devoted to income generation and food security.
Pilon-Lajas, Bolivia. © Conservation International/photo by John Martin

2.

In southern Ecuador, the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja reported that its field surveys in the Abrade Zamora Key Biodiversity Area, a 6,671-hectare site
located near the town of Loja, found 27 amphibianspecies of which 12 were new to science and 14 wereendemic to the area. A single site with such localized
amphibian endemism was considered a rarity in thehotspot. The field work and follow-up outreach galvanized local and national attention to secure funding
and formal protection for the important site.

Yellow-tailed woolly monkey. (Lagothrix flavicauda)© Conservation International/photo by Stephen Nash

Golden-naped tanager (Chalcothraupis ruficervix). © Guillermo Cantillo Figueroa

5.
With the help of CEPF’s Gender Toolkit and its Gender Tracking
Tool, grantee Fundación Trópico in Colombia began factoring
gender considerations into its projects and tracking itsperformance. While the organization scored 3 points out of 20
on the Gender Tracking Tool in 2017, it jumped to 13 points by2020. Fundacíon Trópico achieved this improvement by weaving
gender considerations into its projects, getting guidance andtraining from a consultant, and developing a monitoring system.
It also worked with organization Asoríobravo to conduct genderworkshops with 25 local leaders.
Woman prepares raw sugar in Colombia. © David Ramírez/ Fundación Trópico

Pristimantis samaniegoi. © UTPL
THE TROPICAL ANDES HOTSPOTECOSYSTEM PROFILE SUMMARY

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CEPF Strategic Directions andInvestment Priorities

1Developing theEcosystem Profile

STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Strengthen protection andmanagement of 52 priority Key
Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) tofoster participatory governance,
green recovery from COVID-19,
climate change resilience,
species conservation andfinancial sustainability.

2

Prior to providing funding to a hotspot, CEPF prepares an “ecosystemprofile,” a hotspot assessment and conservation strategy. This document
identifies the threats to biodiversity, the areas with the highest
concentration of threatened species, the economic status of hotspot
countries and conservation priorities.
The original ecosystem profile for the Tropical Andes was developedin 2001 and set the stage for CEPF’s initial investment in the hotspot,
US$8.13 million from 2001–2013. A new profile was developed in 2015,
providing the strategy for CEPF’s 2015–2020 investment of US$9.5 million.
That profile was then updated in 2021 in advance of CEPF’s 2022–2027
investment. To read the complete ecosystem profile, visit cepf.net/
TropicalAndesProfile2021.

Facilitate the establishment, upgrading and/or expansion of public and private protectedareas.

•Prepare and implement participatory
management plans and other relevant KBA
management instruments that support
broad stakeholder collaboration.

•

Strengthen land tenure, management andgovernance of Indigenous territories andcampesino communities.

•Enable local communities to enter andremain in incentive programs that benefit
biodiversity conservation.

•Promote and strengthen bio-enterprisesthat support biodiversity conservation andprovide gender-equitable benefits to localcommunities.

In the seven priority corridors, collaborate withpublic and private-sector stakeholders to enablebiodiversity conservation, a green recovery fromCOVID-19, and environmental, financial and social
sustainability in benefit of the priority KBAs.

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES•Support participatory land-use and development plans and governanceframeworks to foster a shared vision of conservation and sustainable
development to guide future investments.

•Support the preparation of policies, programs and projects that foster
biodiversity conservation, particularly at subnational levels, and thatleverage funding for their implementation.

•Support the dissemination and integration of the conservation
outcomes (threatened species, KBAs and corridors) in the strategicplans and public policies of governments, donors and the privatesector.

•Establish and strengthen traditional and innovative financial
mechanisms and leverage financing initiatives for conservation,including payments for ecosystem services, carbon credits andcompensation mechanisms.

•Promote and scale up bio-enterprises to benefit communities,
biodiversity, connectivity and ecosystem services.

•Promote private-sector actors and their associations to integrateconservation into their business practices and to implement corporatesocial responsibility policies and voluntary conservation commitments.

•Integrate biodiversity conservation objectives into policies andprograms related to mining and infrastructure and promote related
demonstration projects.

•

Strengthen local capacity, facilitate public consultation, and support
partnerships to implement mitigation measures (assess, avoid, mitigateand monitor impacts) in projects that present a risk to priority KBAs,
with a focus on mining and infrastructure.

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES•STRATEGIC DIRECTION

Tibouchina granulosa, Coroico, Bolivia. © O. LangrandCorosha, Amazonas, Peru. © Michael Tweddle

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Priority Sites and Corridors for CEPF Investment

3

STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Safeguard priority globallythreatened species.

4

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES••Prepare, implement and institutionalize
conservation action plans that include
climate change resilience for 183 CriticallyEndangered and Endangered species, andfor select genera, presented in Appendix
13.3 of the ecosystem profile.
Support strategies and information
campaigns to combat illegal wildlife
trafficking and hunting in the KBAs andconservation corridors.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Cultivate a well-trained, well-coordinated andresilient civil society sector at the local, corridor
and hotspot levels to achieve CEPF’s conservation
outcomes.

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES•Strengthen the institutional capacities (administrative, financial,fundraising, communications, governance and project management)of CEPF’s strategic partners to implement biodiversity conservation
programs.

•Strengthen the technical knowledge and skills of civil society throughshort-term courses to implement practical conservation actions based onan evaluation and training strategy.

•Support a security strategy and alliance to safeguard at-risk
environmental and Indigenous defenders.

•Strengthen the strategic communication capacity of the media and civilsociety networks to create conservation awareness among the publicand decision-makers.

•Strengthen the capacities and involvement of women in CEPF initiatives.

•Improve stakeholder cooperation and strengthen alliances, and foster
information exchange and lessons learned. Strengthen the capacities
and involvement of women in CEPF initiatives.
Priority Corridor

5

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

RosterNatName

In the hotspot, provide strategic leadership and effective coordination of CEPF investment
through a regional implementation team (RIT).

2

Awá- Cotacachi – Illinizas

9

Cordillera de Vilcanota

15

Madidi-Pilón Lajas-Cotapata

16

Noreste de Perú

19

Norte de la Cordillera Oriental en Ecuador

21

Paraguas-Munchique-BM del Sur de Antioquia

22

Podocarpus Sangay

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES•Create a broad community of civil society groups working across institutional and geographic boundaries
to strengthen their capacities and promote their long-term resilience, and to support CEPF’s mission andconservation goals.

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Colombia Priority KBAs
CodeCEPF Priority Site

COL86

Reserva Natural El Pangán

COL88

Reserva Natural La Planada

COL91

Reserva Natural Río Ñambí

Ecuador Priority KBAs
CodeCEPF Priority Site

Colombia Priority KBAs

ECU14Bosque Protector Los Cedros

CodeCEPF Priority Site

ECU25

COL5

Alto de Pisones

Cordillera de Huacamayos-SanIsidro-Sierra Azul

COL7

Bosque de San Antonio/Km 18

COL11

Bosques Montanos del Sur de Antioquia

COL36

Enclave Seco del Río Dagua

COL45

ECU28 Corredor Awacachi
ECU34

Intag-Toisán

ECU41

Los Bancos - Milpe

La Empalada

ECU42

Reserva Ecológica Los Illinizas yalrededores

COL65

Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali

ECU43

Maquipucuna-Río Guayllabamba

COL74

Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá

COL75

Parque Natural Regional Páramo del Duende

ECU44

Mindo y Estribaciones
Occidentales del volcán Pichincha

COL80

Región del Alto Calima

ECU52

COL106

Serranía de los Paraguas

Parque Nacional Sumaco-Napo
GalerasCOL109Serranía del Pinche

ECU54

Río Caoní

ECU61

Reserva Ecológica CotacachiCayapas

ECU66

Río Toachi-Chiriboga

ECU70

Territorio Étnico Awá yalrededores

ECU89 Mashpi-Pachijal

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Peru Priority KBAs

Ecuador Priority KBAs
CodeCEPF Priority Site

ECU11 km west of Loja

ECU2

Abra de Zamora

ECU3

Acanamá-Guashapamba-Aguirre

ECU6

Alrededores de Amaluza

ECU16

Bosque Protector Moya-Molón

ECU47

Montañas de Zapote-Najda

ECU50

Parque Nacional Podocarpus

ECU64

Reserva Tapichalaca

ECU86

Gualaceo-Limón Indanza

ECU95

Saraguro Las Antenas

Code

CEPF Priority Site

PER3

6 km south of Ocobamba

PER5

Abra Málaga-Vilcanota

PER44

Kosnipata Carabaya

PER50

Lagos Yanacocha

PER75

Quincemil

PER97

Río Araza

Bolivia Priority KBAs
Code

CEPF Priority Site

BOL8

Bosque de Polylepis deTaquesi

BOL13

Cotapata

BOL37

Yungas Inferiores de Pilón
Lajas

BOL39

Yungas Superiores deApolobamba

BOL45

Parque Nacional y ÁreaNatural de Manejo Integrado
Cotapata

Peru Priority KBAs
CodeCEPF Priority Site

PER28

Cordillera de Colán

PER65

Moyobamba

PER84

Río Utcubamba

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Critical Ecosystem Partnership FundOffices located at:Conservation International
2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22202 USA

www.cepf.net
cepf@cepf.net

Red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus), Colombia. © O. LangrandCEPF is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement,
Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility,
the Government of Japan and the World Bank.