Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador

Since 1999, following repeated devastation from flooding and mudslides, the Ecuadorian coastal city of Bahía de Caráquez has committed itself by law to rebuilding according to standards of ecological sustainability. The city, renowned for its beaches and neotropical forest, was essentially rebuilt from the ground up, with an emphasis on ecotourism and upscale hotels, and has since become one of Ecuador's most popular resorts for upper-class tourists. Through a partnership with the San Francisco–based Planet Drum Foundation, Bahía has applied an ecological strategy known as “bioregionalism,” as it continues to develop both urban infrastructure and local ecosystems.

Bahía is a small city of great regional political and economic importance located on a sandy peninsula at the mouth of the Río Chone estuary on the country's western coast. In addition to hosting thousands of tourists from Ecuador and abroad each year, it is the county municipal center, transportation hub for both highway and ferry traffic, and core manufacturing and shopping area for the region. The shifting sands and shallow channel of the Río Chone have historically limited Bahía's usefulness as a port. As a result, the city has been spared the environmental harms that often accompany commercial shipping and heavy industry. Ecuadorian dry neotropical forests, such as those that surround Bahía, are areas of high biodiversity and endemism and are considered a top priority by conservationists. Average precipitation in the region fluctuates significantly: Rainfall in an El Niño year can be 200 times that of a dry year.

Bahía featured noteworthy ecologically minded efforts before its formal commitment to become an ecocity. It was protected by several natural resource management laws: In 1989 area beaches were set aside as a National Reserve Area, and in 1990 the municipality established the Frigate Bird Islands Mangrove Bird Sanctuary. Pioneering local projects include a recycling facility for both organic and inorganic matter in the Bahía market center, a participatory organic farm and environmentalist school in Río Muchacho, an agroecology project at Encarnación Organic Farm, and an “ecological” housing subdivision for the homeless. Alternative tourism opportunities include bird watching in the mangroves of nearby Isla del Corazón (Heart Island); participatory local farm tours; an archaeological museum in Bahía; the nearby archaeological site of Chirije; tours to nearby forests, caves, [Page 18]mangroves, and wetlands; a local workshop to produce handmade recycled paper, and an Environmental Interpretation Center in which visitors to the area are taught about local ecology and conservation efforts.