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Capybaras and Beavers:
Making Connections Between New Hampshire and Ecuador

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The Conservancy's Silvia Benitez visiting Loverens Mill Cedar 
Swamp in Antrim in April. Benitez was here to discuss the
Conservancy's Ecuador program.
© Eric Aldrich / TNC
 

Three thousand miles away from her native Ecuador, Silvia Benitez wasn’t sure what to expect when she arrived in the Granite State in April. Benitez, the Conservancy’s conservation projects coordinator for the tropical Andes, found many differences, but also some surprising similarities.

More than 40 species of birds that breed in New Hampshire in the spring and summer spend their winters in the dry forests of Ecuador.  These migrants range from shorebirds like greater and lesser yellowlegs and sandpipers to forest birds like Swainson’s thrushes and summer tanagers.  Just like us, the people of Ecuador look to their forests for fresh air, food, shelter, firewood and recreation.  And just like ours, their forests are in danger of being lost forever.

To raise awareness about these connections and about the urgent conservation needs of the tropical Andes forests Benitez gave compelling presentations to a gathering of New Hampshire members of the Legacy Club. The Legacy Club consists of members who have included the Conservancy in their will. Benitez also spoke to Conservancy members and friends at a reception in Durham.

Benitez noted that the forests of the Andean highlands are a place of incredible biodiversity, rich in culture, poor in wealth and strong in hope.  They are vital to the health and welfare of the region’s 50 million people, many of whom live in poverty.  The expansion of fishing, agriculture, ranching and infrastructure projects like roads and energy development severely threaten the ecology of the Andean tropical forests, which have shaped the development and culture of human civilizations in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru. While less than 4 percent is conserved, these forests provide people with clean water, productive soils and wood.

The Conservancy aims to protect 35 million acres of Andean forestland by 2015. Much of this will be done through land protection, management of parks and nature reserves, and through innovative approaches and strategies that balance biodiversity conservation and human well-being.  A solid network of partners that include TNC, governments, conservation organizations, indigenous groups and communities will implement conservation strategies that reduce threats, protect habitat and provide meaningful benefits to people and nature.

While in New Hampshire, Benitez visited Loverens Mill Preserve in Antrim. During the walk, Benitez and her guides made comparisons between the capybara, a native of South America and the world’s largest rodent, and the beaver, the second largest rodent. And although it was still too early for species like the red-eyed vireo and rose-breasted grosbeak to be back here in their summer residence, Silvia knew that soon enough they would be leaving her backyard in search of our own.