Global 200 Ecoregions

Nature's frontier or development frontier?
Choco


 
Major Habitat Type
Tropical Moist Forest

Biogeographic Region
Neotropics

Location
Columbia, Ecuador, Panama


Act Now

Biological Diversity

The Species

The People

The Threat

The Response

The Challenge



Summary

One of the world's most stunning natural coastlines graces the Pacific coast along the north-western edge of the South American continent. The rugged Andes mountains drop off to lush forested hills, followed by a series of pristine bays and inlets, dotted with small islands and dense mangroves. Under the surface of these bays and inlets, sparkling Pacific waters hide a vast network of beautiful coral reefs.

Because its unusual geography has isolated this western region from the rest of South America, the region has a fantastic variety of plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The tropical lowland forests of the Choco are considered to harbour one of the world's five richest assemblages of plants and animals, with exceptional endemism in a wide range of taxa. The large expanses of lowland and mid-elevation forests represent some of the last opportunities to conserve relatively large tracts of intact forests in central and northwestern South America. Importantly, forests still cover the lowlands on up to the high mountain peaks of the Western Cordillera of the Northern Andes. This intactness permits natural altitudinal migrations of many birds, mammal, and invertebrate species, a phenomenon that is increasingly rare throughout the tropics, as lowland and mid-elevational forests are destroyed.

Sadly, this region, called the Choco, is being viewed by the Colombian government as the next great development frontier and pressures for development continue in Ecuador and Panama. Unless immediate steps are taken to develop this region in a sustainable manner, deforestation, erosion, and pollution could wipe out the unique ecosystems and species that define the Choco.

toolbar