What is Wildsumaco? Who are we?

There's a road in Ecuador that winds southeast out of Quito, moving through the Andes' beautiful Eastern Foothills. From it, on the Guacamayos Ridge, a volcano can sometimes be seen rising to 3730 meters (12,250 feet) through the misty distance of the east. It is called Sumaco.

The hills below and around Sumaco are covered in lush primary forest, so remote and difficult to access that to this day they remain virtually unexplored, unmapped, a mystery.

Recognizing its significance, Ecuador has made Sumaco and the area around it a national park. Primary rainforest in and below the buffer zone surrounding the Sumaco National Park is threatened with ecological disaster. In a classic example of slash and burn agriculture, the forest's largest trees are being sold to loggers and cut down, the remainder of the forest cleared and burned, the land turned into farms or pastures.

These changes are happening rapidly, but we of Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary S.A., a small, private company dedicated to conservation, are determined to save and preserve a sustainable piece of this fine rainforest and its wildlife before it disappears forever. We believe that we have found the perfect formula.

The general region of Sumaco encompasses a wide range of elevations, and is bird-rich. Many of the species found here are rare, endangered or very difficult to see elsewhere. Until now, there has been no comfortable lodging for birders convenient to this superb birding destination.

We have changed that.

As a significant part of our conservation effort, we have built Wildsumaco Lodge on a ridge that was cleared of forest by previous owners some years ago. The view is breath-taking. Although most of our guests are birders, our trails and scenery, our flora and fauna, will delight everyone who enjoys experiencing nature first hand.

Home to a large and exciting variety of plant, bird and other animal species, Wildsumaco should provide guests with a wonderful birding experience. As over 400 species are found on our reserve alone, and the surrounding areas hold many more, a list of the birds that might be seen on even a short stay at our lodge is impressive.

In addition to managing our own forest and land, and running Wildsumaco Lodge, we are working with people in nearby communities, seeking economic alternatives to the slash and burn agriculture that threatens the area's remaining rainforest. In time we hope that Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary will become a recognized base for scientific inquiry into ornithology, zoology, botany and other biological fields, within our own forest and in the nearby Sumaco National Park as well.

We are personally involved…

in every aspect of Wildsumaco's land and lodge, and believe that our direct, hands-on approach to conservation will work well here. Our presence serves to preserve and protect the rainforest and its wildlife, birders have unrivaled access to some of Ecuador's finest species, and lodge income will maintain the property. Beyond this, most of any profit from the lodge will be used to buy and protect additional forest in the Sumaco region, through the non-profit Rio Pucuno Foundation.

Who we are and our philosophy…

We are a handful of people from Sweden and the United States with long-term presence and experience throughout South America, although our total commitment is now in Ecuador's Eastern Foothills. Our backgrounds and training differ, but among our various talents we are all dedicated conservationists and birders, and one of us has been involved professionally in birding for many years.

Quite simply, we believe that as a private company with no big-government or corporate ties to divert funds from our conservation goals with high overhead costs, we can successfully take on the challenge of doing something by ourselves that will make a difference in this very special part of Ecuador.

Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary S.A. is a small independent company, privately financed and operated, and we will remain that way. We established and work closely with the non-profit Rio Pucuno Foundation www.riopucunofoundation.org, enabling us to accept donations separate from our company, to buy and protect additional rainforest for conservation in perpetuity, and to help facilitate some of our scientific, educational and community-based goals. Our key to successful land stewardship is our direct, hands-on management of our company, our lodge and our forest.

This is a deeply personal effort for all of us. We have put our talents and our resources into what we are doing in Sumaco; our driving force is conservation, not profit. We shall maintain our commitments to forest conservation and to running a fine lodge for birders, returning profits to the land, and find the responsibility to be an exciting challenge.

When you visit Wildsumaco, you'll see what a few individuals who are deeply committed to conservation can accomplish.

We are proud of what we have already achieved in Sumaco, and eagerly anticipate our future here on the eastern slope of Ecuador's Andes. We will be good stewards of the land.

If you are interested in financially helping our conservations efforts, please contact either of us below or go to: www.riopucunofoundation.org

Bonnie Burgess Olson, President
Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary S.A.
bonnie@wildsumaco.com

Jonas Nilsson, General Manager
Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary S.A.
jonas@wildsumaco.com