Ecuador

Ecuador, a nation on the west coast of South America, straddles the Amazonian lowlands, the Andes, a humid coastal plain, and the Galapagos Islands. The population of about 12 million (2001 census) is well along in its demographic transition, with low and declining death rates and declining birth rates. Approximately 1.5 million migrants overseas (especially New York and Spain) provide an important support for the country's economy through their remittances. Almost all of the population identifies as Mestizo, with small but important indigenous and Afro–Latin American minorities. Almost half the population lives in or near the three main cities, Quito (the capital), Guayaquil (the largest city and main port), and Cuenca (most important city in the southern highlands).

Agriculture has been practiced in the highlands for thousands of years, resulting in the deforestation of this part of the country. Traditional agriculture deploys a wide range of crop species and varieties, and sophisticated systems of irrigation and crop rotation on sloping land. Commercial agriculture provides important exports, including bananas. Recently, flower cultivation has been a heavy user of scarce water supplies in the highlands, while shrimp farms on the coast have done away with much of the country's mangrove habitat. Much of the highlands have been reforested with exotic species (especially Eucalyptus and Monterey Pine) for local use. High altitude environments (páramos) are managed by burning and are used for grazing sheep and cattle.

The country has several active volcanoes that present a significant hazard. Much of the Quito urbanized area is at risk from lava flows from the Cotopaxi volcano. Earthquakes are also a hazard; several cities have been destroyed in the last few centuries. A nationwide monitoring program is in place, managed by the Polytechnic University in Quito, to provide early warnings.

Water resources are especially critical for the country's future. A sophisticated water system has been installed for Quito relying on high altitude reservoirs (and associated ecological services from local communities), but other cities and towns often make do with unsafe and unreliable water supplies.

The first national park was created in the Galápagos Islands in 1936. The system of parks and preserves now covers almost 20 percent of the national territory, and is managed by the Ministry of Environment. Tourism, including ecotourism, provides growing support for the country's economy, Petroleum exploitation in the Amazon basin began with the drilling of the first productive well in 1967. In subsequent decades, oil became the country's major export. The construction of roads led to an influx of colonists, especially in the northeast, which in turn led to deforestation and pressure on indigenous communities. There have been oil spills and contamination of local waterways associated with oil production, and continuing struggles with local indigenous communities over impacts on their land and livelihoods.