Ecuador is considered one of the richest and most diverse biodiversity hotspots in the world. The variety of landscapes it encompasses determines a wide range of different ecosystems, including the Amazon Basin (Amazonía), the Andes mountain range (Sierra) with altitudes reaching up to 6,310 meters, the Pacific coast (Costa), as well as the Galápagos Islands, located 1,000 km off the coast. Similarly, the country incorporates a cultural diversity of different ethnicities, cultures, languages, customs, and traditions (Heinz & Tutillo, 2015).
At the beginning of the 19th century, Alexander von Humboldt already mentioned that the only constant in Ecuador's geography is its diversity. This diversity holds enormous tourism potential that still awaits proper recognition through sustainable tourism (Heinz & Tutillo, 2015).
The southern region of Ecuador consists of three provinces: El Oro, Loja, and Zamora Chinchipe, located in three different regions: Costa, Sierra, and Oriente, respectively. Climate changes from the Pleistocene to the present day have influenced the formation of various types of floristic communities (Lozano, 2002).
Zamora Chinchipe is one of the 24 provinces that make up Ecuador, located in the southern part of the country within the Amazon region. It presents a unique mountainous orography that distinguishes it from the rest of the Amazon provinces. Additionally, it consists of highlands with altitudinal limits ranging from 800 meters above sea level (m.s.n.m.) to approximately 3,700 m.s.n.m., making it a transitional zone for vegetation. This area is part of the Huancabamba phytogeographical region, which includes a series of mountain ranges crossing the southeastern region. Some of these ranges include the Sábanas, Calima, Cerro Negro, Paredones, Numbala, Nanguipa, Guambime, Tzumantza, Wintza, Sordomoras, Manga Urcu, del Oso, Picho, Zarza, and its largest representative, the Cordillera del Cóndor, which is tectonically related to the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia due to the formation of Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments (Lozano, 2002).
In this area, the fluvial systems originate that flow into the Amazon River (Paute, Santiago, and Chinchipe rivers), whose mouth is the Marañón River, which is not navigable to the Amazon due to the Pongo de Manseriche in northern Peru (Lozano, 2002).
