In the heart of the **Llanganates National Park**, which spans the Ecuadorian provinces of **Cotopaxi, Napo, Pastaza, and Tungurahua**, you can find more than 50 species of **mammals**, almost 200 of **birds**, 23 of **amphibians and reptiles**, and a thousand different **plants**.
Many of these species are **endemic**, so they can only be found in the **wetland of the park**. In addition, experts believe that there are many more species not yet documented, so their protection and preservation must be a national priority.
In **Ecuador**, provincial authorities promote the opening of a road through the Llanganates National Park. This site has endemism and biodiversity comparable to that of the Galapagos, according to **Gorki Ríos**, a biologist and researcher.
Furthermore, the park’s lagoon complex was declared an **Internationally Important Wetland** under the Ramsar Convention in 2008, providing habitat for more than 20 species of migratory birds, such as the **greater yellowlegs** (Tringa melanoleuca).
The Llanganates National Park (PNLl) protects 219,707 hectares of Andean primary forest and páramo, ranging from 1200 to 4500 meters above sea level. It is located between the provinces of Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Napo, and Pastaza, in the center of the country.
In the upper part of the park, you can observe **Andean bears** (Tremarctos ornatus) feeding on **bromeliads**, **deer** (Odocoileus virginianus) walking in the páramo, and flocks of up to eight **Andean condors** (Vultur gryphus) soaring, according to a park ranger who prefers to remain anonymous.
## Controversies and Conservation Challenges in the Llanganates National Park
With the road, the aim is to connect the city of Salcedo in the Andean province of Cotopaxi with the city of Tena in the Amazonian province of Napo.
In November 2024, a group of six people, made up of specialists in geology and topography, as well as guides and park rangers, undertook a walking expedition from Cotopaxi to Napo to **assess the feasibility** of building the road.
The news of the road construction has raised alarms among conservation entities. 28 organizations, led by **World Wildlife Fund (WWF)** and **Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)**, issued a statement calling on the national and subnational governments to stop the road project and ensure the conservation of the Llanganates National Park.
Although, according to the Organic Environmental Code, the Ecuadorian State commits to “ensure the integrity of protected natural areas,” in February 2024, the then Minister of Environment, **Sade Fritschi**, met with Tibán “to review studies of the Salcedo-Tena,” according to a post on the social media of the **Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition (MAATE)**.
### Environmental Impacts and Concerns
**Sebastián Valdivieso**, director of the WCS Ecuador organization, points out in an interview with the Mongaby portal that “in a closed and isolated place, opening a road connects with external pressures. It’s like when you get hurt, there’s a wound.”
Currently, a third-order road with low usage penetrates the national park. About 40 kilometers are missing to connect that road to Tena, Tibán told a local media outlet. The new construction would have a width of about 10 meters, according to information received by the park ranger.
About 400,000 square meters of **páramo and forest vegetation** would have to be removed to start construction. “When there are impacts that damage the páramos and they release organic matter, we will have eliminated one of the main tools to fight climate change,” warns Valdivieso. Páramos capture carbon, the main greenhouse gas.
**Habitat fragmentation** also causes the edge effect, a phenomenon where a series of changes occur after deforestation, such as changes in temperature and humidity. While some species benefit, others do not, causing an imbalance in the ecosystem.
The park ranger is concerned that the use of heavy machinery, the possible use of explosives to open the road through the **rugged topography of the park**, and the subsequent influx of vehicles may scare off the **wildlife**.
On the other hand, with the construction of roads, colonization processes begin. Along the **Guamote – Macas** road, which crosses the Sangay National Park and connects the Andes with the Amazon in the south of the country, a gradual change in land use has been observed. Natural vegetation has been removed to make way for farms, livestock, and houses.
## Increase in Illegal Hunting
**Gorki Ríos** mentions that between the opening of the road and the consolidation of human occupation, there are many incursions to collect or hunt. In the Llanganates, there are valuable timber trees such as **myrtle, podocarpus, or motilón**. There is also a great diversity of **orchids**.
WCS Ecuador studied the impact of the opening of the Maxus road, which penetrates about 180 kilometers into the Yasuní National Park, northeast of the Llanganates. This road was built in 1992 to facilitate oil extraction in the so-called Block 16. “One of the main changes has been the **intensification of animal hunting**,” reads a WCS bulletin published in 2007.
This happens, explains Valdivieso, because the hunting capacity of **Amazonian inhabitants** is equal to their ability to walk and carry the prey. With roads and the use of vehicles, both barriers decrease, facilitating the extraction of larger quantities of animals.
In Ecuador, members of indigenous peoples and nationalities can **hunt for their own consumption** only within their ancestral territories. Outside of this exception, the extraction, transportation, possession, and sale of wild flora and fauna are crimes under article 247 of the Comprehensive Penal Code.
“We don’t know if this phenomenon will be repeated on the Salcedo – Tena road,” acknowledges Valdivieso. In the highlands, there have been reports of **poaching of deer**, although it has not been a frequent problem, he explains. “Towards the Amazon, there are communities that engage in hunting; they may see the road as a means to easily extract the product,” he adds.
## The Llanganates and the Water Cycle
**Daniela Rosero**, an ecohydrologist and researcher at the **San Francisco University of Quito**, explains that the peculiarity of the Llanganates is that, unlike other parks, there are no major volcanoes forming hydrological barriers. “Here the water can do whatever it wants before falling or evaporating. It’s the **Amazon basin** on a scale,” she asserts.
In the high zone, there are páramos of great endemism and **hydroecological importance**. The mountain range that forms the park has a series of lagoons that “control, regulate, and maintain the water.” There is also a cloud forest páramo. Due to these characteristics, these páramos are considered the wettest in the **Andes mountain range**.
The streams of water in the air collide with the piedmont forest, causing rainfall. These moisten the slope between the Andes and the Amazon, giving rise to lush vegetation and fungi that retain the liquid and direct it towards the interior of the mountains to emerge again as springs and **crystal-clear rivers in the Amazon**.
## Risk of Hydrological Alteration
**Daniela Rosero**, an ecohydrologist and researcher at the **San Francisco University of Quito**, explains that “the particularity” of the **Llanganates** is that, unlike other parks, there are no major volcanoes forming **hydrological barriers**. “Here the water can do whatever it wants before falling or evaporating. It’s the Amazon basin on a scale,” she asserts.
In the **high zone** of the park, there are páramos “of great endemism and hydroecological importance.” The mountain range that forms the park has a series of lagoons that “control, regulate, and maintain the water.” Additionally, there is a **cloud forest páramo** surrounded by mist. These characteristics make these páramos considered the wettest in the Andes mountain range.
## Impact of Infrastructure Construction
So far, due to the complex topography of the area and protection activities, the **water dynamics** in this zone have developed without major disturbances. “If a structure starts to be built, they will seek to dry the area,” says Rosero.
The road layout will be impermeabilized, and ditches will be built to prevent water flow on the road, but that will also cause the water to stop following the **underground paths** it took before. By cutting or diverting the natural water flows, its speed to reach the rivers can be accelerated or slowed down, affecting evaporation cycles. “That’s precisely why we experience changes in the climate,” assures the specialist.
Furthermore, the construction and vehicular traffic can cause pollution that impacts the nearby communities depending on the páramo water and Tena, a tourist city where **water
