Ranger Jesus: News
Staging site
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Reserve ranger: Jesus Recalde
Country: Ecuador
Partner: Fundación EcoMinga
Working with his brother Luis high in the eastern Andes of Ecuador, ranger Jesus protects Fundación EcoMinga's nature reserves from illegal hunting, logging and environmental damage. The reserves are home to a wealth of diverse plant and animal life, with species new to science being discovered regularly in the area.
Jesus was a hunter before he became a ranger. His change of heart came when he wounded a female monkey in a hunting trip. "I'm ashamed to say that I was a hunter", says Jesus. "Hunting is part of what we do here when we live off the land. I've done things that I shouldn't have, ever since I was a child." From this moment, Jesus's attitude changed and, rather than cutting down the trees on his smallholding, he started to plant them.
A few years later, Jesus met Lou Jost, co-founder of Fundación EcoMinga. "Lou discovered that I planted flowers and trees for the birds. So he contracted me to work with him because he knew that I was no longer a hunter and that I really respected the flora and fauna," explains Jesus.
How to support Jesus:
Read about ranger Jesus’ wildlife encounters and adventures from the field:
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14 January 2015Lou Jost is the founder of Fundación EcoMinga, one of World Land Trust’s (WLT) four conservation partners in Ecuador. Here he describes the exciting discovery of magno...
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17 May 2012Reserve ranger, Luis Recalde, captures a powerful image of a richly patterned venomous snake high in the eastern Andes of Ecuador Curled up on a branch in the forest, this beautif...
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06 March 2012Discover more about the lives and work of our rangers who protect some of the most threatened habitats and wildlife on Earth It has been a year since World Land Trust (WLT) laun...