The Role of Environmental Instruments in the Conservation of Andean Forests in Ecuador

One of the paramount challenges confronting the global population today is acknowledging humanity’s dependence on natural capital for a vast array of benefits crucial to our health, sustenance, and overall well-being (Díaz et al., 2015; Perschke et al., 2023). It is crucial for society to expand its comprehension of natural capital beyond merely associating it with the benefits provided by natural resources, or limiting it to environmental protection and sustainability, such as absorbing waste and pollution, or viewing it solely as the primary driver of economies (Jo et al., 2021). Thus, it must embrace the comprehensive and diverse aspects of natural capital, which include essential goods and services such as clean air, carbon sequestration, food production, pollination, and clean water. These rely directly and indirectly on biodiversity across its genetic, species, and ecosystem levels. In other words, achieving this broad spectrum of benefits in the “natural capital equation” necessitates the consideration of relationship or link between biodiversity and ecosystem services (Díaz et al. 2006, 2015). Moreover, biodiversity itself depends critically on forest ecosystems, which play a pivotal role in maintaining the balance between nature and human societies (with an estimated 80% of global biodiversity concentrated in forests) (FAO, 1993).