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extinct because the last time it was CODELCO mining company; the the Longnose Stubfoot Toad and Back from seen was in 1989, despite concerted world’s largest copper producer. countless other species survive. efforts to find it. It is a peculiar Proposing this mine in primary We need to continue to raise extinction! name for a frog that only measures forests harboring perhaps hundreds awareness at all levels of society, about 35 mm from the tip of its long of species facing extinction is only a secure firm and active international How one “nose” to the end of its abdomen. manifestation of a much more lethal support, conduct scientific studies But rediscovering this little frog after condition that I see as monumental and put in place strong legal species 27 years searching was heartening stupidity and gross short-sightedness. defense. Without these, we might as news for biologists who are more For these are some of the last well write off the Intag cloud forest of toad can used to the terrible extinction of remaining forests in western Ecuador, and similar forests that are home amphibians. a region that harbours many more to the species like the Longnose create hope endangered species per hectare Stubfoot Toad and the thousands by Carlos Zorrilla, The frog was found by a biologist than the better known Amazonian of other species that depend on us, Executive Director, DECOIN DECOIN hired to undertake an forests, and which also happens to Homo sapiens, for survival. amphibian inventory in the Junin have fantastic ecological tourism community-owned forest reserve in For the past 38 years, most days I a project supported by Rainforest walk through the forest. When I go, Concern. He was only able to find I seldom leave my house without two females and two males, but a camera, and this has made it speculated that there would be possible to record everything that I healthy populations in other isolated see there. You may imagine that after areas of the forests. He also believed almost four decades of frequent visits that, with enough time, several other and paying attention to the wildlife new and “extinct” species would be there would be nothing new to see. discovered. In the five days quick In most ecosystems this would hold inventory, the biologist went on to true. But not so in Intag’s cloud find eight more frog species on the forests where I live and work.

Carlos Zorrilla IUCN Red List of threatened species. A few days ago, for example, The Atelopus longirostris, thought extinct since 1989 Three of the frogs are now in an amphibian center in Quito where I photographed a lizard I’ve never time, the Andean nation has the species; expansion of agriculture and they hope to establish a breeding seen before. Two days earlier, I saw unenviable distinction of having more ranching; industrial activities (such as programme, even though 25 of each and photographed a katydid species species of animals and plants facing oil extraction); and climate change. sex is usually required for successful of grasshopper for the first time. extinction than any other country As if this is not enough, amphibians, reproduction. Unfortunately, a fourth And, a couple of weeks before that, on the planet. According to the and frogs in particular, face another specimen died while at the lab. The I found an orchid species I’d not latest statistics, it has 2,301 species devastating threat: a lethal fungus 1500 hectare reserve where the seen, growing right next to a trail I’ve threatened by extinction: that’s more that is wiping out species all over frogs were found is one of the first Sarah Fraser trodden at least a thousand times. than Brazil, Mexico or the United the world. In addition to these forest reserves that DECOIN,with In the heart of Intag region These species could all be new to States. The main culprit for this tragic deforestation Horsemen of the help from Rainforest Concern and potential. Where CODELCO is looking Sources science. In 2016 I also saw a species loss is deforestation, but it is also Apocalypse, in Intag, Atelopus and other donors, purchased for the for copper is not only rich in primary of amphibian that, likewise, I had not a fact that Ecuador’s ecosystems other species are also facing the http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/ community in 1997-1998. forest, but also in pristine rivers and spotted before. It is no different at and species are some of the most most environmentally destructive countries-with-the-most-threatened- streams. If there ever is a tribunal night. For years I’ve been using studied in the tropical countries, economic activity of all: large-scale plant-species.html In spite of this success story, it is to judge crimes against nature, this a trap light to attract and photograph which makes it easier to catalogue open pit mining. worthwhile calling attention to the one will undoubtedly rate as one http://www.eluniverso.com/vida- moths, and rare is the night that species loss. fact that only three individuals of this This brings us to a frog that was of the worse. estilo/2014/12/10/nota/4328481/ I don’t see a species of moth for species are known to exist on Earth. While most of Ecuador’s threatened rediscovered in Intag’s forests ecuador-es-pais-mas-especies- the first time. And they were found in a forest The discovery of longirostris species are plants (1842), a large in March 2016. Until the data is amenazas-america-sur-segun-uicn threatened by total and irreversible underscores the importance of The reason for such unusual number are mammals (45), birds revised, the Longnose Stubfoot annihilation, a forest which holds conserving as much forest as http://www.iucnredlist.org/ diversity has much to do with (96), reptiles (26), fish (52), mollusks Toad (Atelopus longirostris) is listed many more critically endangered and possible in biodiversity hotspots such details/54522/0 Ecuador’s equatorial location, the (48), invertebrates (17), plus 6 as extinct on IUCN’s Red List. It threatened species. as Intag. It also validates the support great changes in altitude due to its will soon be “demoted” to Critically protists and 174 amphibians. This our donors have been directing to mountain topography, as well as the Endangered, which means it will represents a significant percentage As many of you know, Intag’s forests conserving Intag’s forests and wildlife. distinctly different rainfall regimes. of Ecuador’s total known species. be listed alongside the brown- are at the epicenter of a large, For these reasons, Ecuador is one In spring 2015, Carlos Zorrilla talked about face Spider Monkey, which also open-pit copper mining project These, then, are the kinds of forests his work, and the threats of the extractive of the world’s 17 mega diverse Many of the same factors threatening inhabit these forests, as well as that now also threatens most of the that we, with your support, are industries to the forests of Ecuador to a countries. It has more orchid and biodiversity in other countries also many other species in the rapidly Intag region. The mining activity is helping conserve. And please, don’t crowded audience at the University of Lon- hummingbird species than Brazil, threaten Ecuador’s species: logging diminishing western forests of still in the exploration stage, and is think for a moment that buying forests don’s Senate House. which is 32 times larger. At the same (legal and illegal), hunting; invasive Ecuador. Longirostris was listed as fully funded by Chile’s state-owned is the only thing needed to help

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