Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Ecuador’s Antisana páramo, southeast of Quito, offers a striking example of ecological restoration, turning back the clock on centuries of degradation caused by livestock grazing, reports contributor Ana Cristina Alvarado for Mongabay. Once dominated by sprawling cattle ranches, the area’s delicate high-altitude ecosystem has slowly recovered since 2010, when the Quito Water Conservation Fund (FONAG) and the city’s water utility bought land from former sheep ranchers. By removing nonnative livestock and restoring wetlands, native vegetation has flourished, alongside a resurgence of wildlife like white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and even pumas (Puma concolor). The páramo, an ecosystem found in the Andes, had been heavily impacted by the draining of wetlands and soil compaction caused by centuries of livestock grazing. As the sheep were removed, the landscape began to heal: plant life regained a foothold, water quality improved, and species once driven out by the degradation, such as deer and foxes, returned. “This could serve as a case study for how food chains rebuild and slowly reshape the landscape,” said Evelyn Araujo, a biologist with the Andean Condor Foundation. The conservation effort was funded through a model that ties water use to ecosystem preservation. FONAG, established in 2000, draws its funding from 2% of the revenue generated by Quito’s water utility, which is contributed by city residents. This funding supports conservation initiatives that safeguard Quito’s water supply by restoring and protecting vital water sources in…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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