Sistema Lacustre Yacuri

Ramsar logo

Sistema Lacustre Yacuri

  • Country: 
    Ecuador
  • Site number: 
    2087
  • Area: 
    27,762 ha
  • Designation date: 
    15-12-2012
  • Coordinates: 
    04°38'S 79°21'W
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

A lake system is formed by 48 glacial lagoons that are mainly located in the southern part of the National Park Yacuri and continue into the Peruvian Andean region. The site is associated with unique paramo ecosystems formed by elfin forests, bamboo areas, shrubs and grasslands. Together with other high mountain ecosystems, it supports many threatened species, such as Tremarctos ornatus, Tapirus pinchaque, Puma concolor and Pudu mephistophiles. Its ecological peculiarities permit it to host a paramo vegetation that is unique to the region. These ecosystems provide shelter to a wide range of endemic species threatened by the continuous habitat loss in the region, such as Penelope barbata, Leptosittaca branickii, Hapalopsittaca pyrrhops and Doliornis remseni; it also supports endemic vegetation like Baleriana aretioides and Neurolepis nana. The Ramsar Site is part of the nucleus zone of the UNESCO Podocarpus-El Cóndor Biosphere Reserve Podocarpus-El Cóndor.

Administrative region: 
Loja, Zamora Chinchipe

  • Global international designation: 
    • UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
  • National legal designation: 
    • Parque Nacional - Yacuri
  • Last publication date: 
    15-12-2012

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Site map