REVIEW AND PROSPECTIVE VISION OF AVITURISM IN ECUADOR

Abstract

The outstanding diversity of birdlife recorded for Ecuador is key to the development
of a sustainable ornithological tourism that can support local communities
and be environmentally friendly. Globally, birdwatching is an important branch
of ecotourism known to benefit local communities within a framework of sustainability.
Therefore, the aim of this article was to review the past and present
of the ornithology as well as birdwatching tourism in Ecuador, with the prospective
view to protect the habitat of birds and to empower local communities via a
sustainable birdwatching tourism. The text includes (i) a detailed description of
four principal birdwatching geographic routes which allows visitors from around
the world to observe endemic, migrant and rare birds in different ecosystems of
the Pacific coastal lowlands and islands, the Amazonian region, and the Andean
highlands and (ii) an upgrading of 2017 reports describing new bird sightings in
Ecuador. The term bird-trekking is proposed for the modality of half day to oneday
birdwatching walks along river beds, waterfalls and streams close to cities
without professional guides or sophisticated equipment other than a GPS and a
digital map.