Anga Llacta Buffer Zone

Sangay National Park lies in the Eastern Andean Cordillera in central Ecuador, sharing its territory amongst Morona-Santiago, Tungurahua, Chimborazo and Cañar provinces. The official boundary encloses a 517,765 ha area, of which the northern 271,925 ha are UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site.

A Park of such a magnitude and ecological importance should be surrounded by an extended buffer zone, where human activities, though traditionally allowed, ought to be carefully regulated and managed. Presently it does not exist any buffer zone.

The boundary of the Park is politically sharply traced, but biologically it cannot be so. Local wild fauna crosses the official Park's boundary on a daily and nightly basis, visiting woods and lagoons that lie within private properties outside and nearby the Park. On the other hand, cattle encroachment extends well inside the Park territory.

Sangay Foundation is committed to create and manage the first Sangay Park Buffer Zone. We believe this is a necessary step towards an effective and lasting conservation of the Park's pristine ecosystems.

This opportunity is offered by Anga Llacta Cooperative, an association of 128 Alao natives who owns approximately 17,000 ha covering the higher Alao valley, on the western alpine side of Sangay National Park. This is a tiny area compared to the Park extension (0.05 %), but it is an extraordinary opportunity for starting a pilot project of such a complexity.

The Anga Llacta 17.000 hectares - Pastaza River catchment area. One can see the Alao River, and (right to left) the Anga Llacta, Chaupi Buc and Supaycahuan clouded forests. The photo has been tahen from Páramos Torres. Photo © 1989 Paolo Catelan. © Sangay Foundation.

The AngaLlacta Buffer Zone belongs to the catchment area of Pastaza River - one of the few ecuatorian tributary of the Marañon-Amazonas River - and extends over the occidental foothills of Chinchillay, Shilile, Supaycahuan and Cuychi Cordilleras, to the bottom of Alao Valley. This is a zone characterized by a range of secondary valleys along the O-E direction (in the S-N direction, Anga Llacta, Chaupibuc, Supaycahuan and Cuychi, respectively), all extremely steepy, rich in water, covered by polilepis pristine thick cloud forests. Above the woods vast páramos extend to the rocky peaks. It is territory of deer, bears, pumas, condors. The Anga Llacta Cooperative members use this area for cattle breeding and firewood collecting.

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