Mundus maris

Ecuador - as the name suggests - sits on the equator line of the Pacific coast of South America. The coast of its mainland territory straddles the northern boundaries of the cold Humboldt Current reaching up towards the south of the country, while most of its coastal ecosystems are tropical and sub-tropical. The Galapagos Islands, a group of volcanic islands grouped around the equator, also belong to Ecuador. The islands are a Unesco World Heritage site and a unique marine and terrestrial environment hosting many endemic species with roots to forebears on the continent that is some 972 km away to the east.

The northern part of the coast on the mainland is a relatively sparsely populated part of the country with modest communication infrastructure. One of the traditional activities in the small villages distributed along the coast was fishing. The increasing urbanisation, efforts to develop the coastline for tourism and overfishing mostly by bigger boats operating out of larger ports now poses some serious risks to the integrity of the coastal ecosystems - both on land and in the ocean.

Mundus maris, in collaboration with the Fundación Santiago de Guayaquil, is supporting awareness creation and activities for nature protection and recognition of rights of coastal communities.