On Thursday, February 22 we were visited by a delegation from the provincial government of Pichincha (Ecuador) together with members of the Department of Territorial Planning, Housing and Transport of the Basque Government. The group was here to learn first-hand about the sustainable tourism project, Urdaibai Bird Center, as well as future challenges to combat Climate Change.
Nico Garcia,The Director of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, welcomed the Ecuadorian delegation and then offered them a tour of the facilities, highlighting the 3 areas in which the Urdaibai Bird Center works; research / conservation, environmental education and sustainable nature tourism. Special emphasis was placed on the Next Generation environmental improvements project carried out in the marshes of Gautegiz Arteaga with the cooperation of the Basque Government and the Urdaibai Bird Center (Aranzadi Science Society).
In spite of the distance that separates Ecuador and Urdaibai, they are similar in some ways: Ecuador is a relatively small country with a great diversity of habitats (the Amazon rainforest, the Andes, the Pacific coast.). This gives the country an enormous the wealth of birdlife - 1,700 species! In the same way, the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve is a small natural environment, the value of which is in its diversity of habitats (open fields, holm oak forests, marshes, coast, streams) Here 300 different species of birds can be observed.
Cheer up Urdaibai!! The difference betwwen Ecuador and Urdaibai is a mere 1400 species!
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