Life in the Clouds - October 2018
Life in the Clouds is a ground-breaking expedition into some of the world's least explored habitat - Ecuador's cloud forests. These forests are unique to Central and South America, playing host to a remarkable array of species and provide a vital refuge for many of the continent's large predators. It isn't just the large predators that are of interest, the flora is remarkable with different altitudes and even longitudes supporting a completely unique array of species. As well as a staggering number of endemic plant species (including some minute orchids), the birdlife is equally varied with some species, such as the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, certainly stealing the limelight!
To the east of the town of Banos in central Ecuador, are a series of reserves that have been purchased and studied by a remarkable individual. An American, Lou Jost, has almost single-handedly saved great swathes of this fragile eco-system and simultaneously carried out essential scientific studies. With the help of the World Land Trust, Lou Jost and his EcoMinga Foundation have been buying up vital pieces of forest to create a wildlife corridor between two of Ecuador's least known national parks. After receiving an invitation from Lou to help document the incredibly varied wildlife of these reserves, Bret Charman decided to organise Life in the Clouds.
The Expedition
Bret used his varied contacts and friends to put together a team of specialists to explore and document EcoMinga's reserves and the life that calls them home. We are particularly interested in working with Lou to document as many species as possible, recording the species' altitude and GPS coordinates. With this information, we will be able to work out the specific areas that species need in order to proliferate and EcoMinga can then coordinate their efforts to buy important pieces of forest to create the wildlife corridor the area so desperately needs.
The team hopes to create a world-class portfolio of images (with the support of Nikon), that can support the precise data collected with the GPS coordinates. This will allow EcoMinga vital access to an in-depth image library for future scientific surveys, providing a guide for further species identification.
The team consists of the following members:
Bret Charman (Expedition Leader & Primary Photographer)
Byron Palacios (Expert Ornithologist)
George Turner (Secondary Photographer & Marketing Expert)
Simon Dicks (Zoologist)
We also hope that Lou will be able to join us and share his expert knowledge - particularly on the region's endemic plant species (many of which Lou has only recently discovered as new to science).
In order to photograph the species we will be taking an array of professional equipment (primarily supplied by Nikon) as well as advanced IR triggers for DSLRs and specialist trail cameras. Our electrical engineer and all round handy man, Adam, will help us design a selection of specialist lighting rigs to help maximise the photography opportunities in this often overcast and wet landscape.
If you would like to find out more about the expedition, please do get in touch with us here.
To the east of the town of Banos in central Ecuador, are a series of reserves that have been purchased and studied by a remarkable individual. An American, Lou Jost, has almost single-handedly saved great swathes of this fragile eco-system and simultaneously carried out essential scientific studies. With the help of the World Land Trust, Lou Jost and his EcoMinga Foundation have been buying up vital pieces of forest to create a wildlife corridor between two of Ecuador's least known national parks. After receiving an invitation from Lou to help document the incredibly varied wildlife of these reserves, Bret Charman decided to organise Life in the Clouds.
The Expedition
Bret used his varied contacts and friends to put together a team of specialists to explore and document EcoMinga's reserves and the life that calls them home. We are particularly interested in working with Lou to document as many species as possible, recording the species' altitude and GPS coordinates. With this information, we will be able to work out the specific areas that species need in order to proliferate and EcoMinga can then coordinate their efforts to buy important pieces of forest to create the wildlife corridor the area so desperately needs.
The team hopes to create a world-class portfolio of images (with the support of Nikon), that can support the precise data collected with the GPS coordinates. This will allow EcoMinga vital access to an in-depth image library for future scientific surveys, providing a guide for further species identification.
The team consists of the following members:
Bret Charman (Expedition Leader & Primary Photographer)
Byron Palacios (Expert Ornithologist)
George Turner (Secondary Photographer & Marketing Expert)
Simon Dicks (Zoologist)
We also hope that Lou will be able to join us and share his expert knowledge - particularly on the region's endemic plant species (many of which Lou has only recently discovered as new to science).
In order to photograph the species we will be taking an array of professional equipment (primarily supplied by Nikon) as well as advanced IR triggers for DSLRs and specialist trail cameras. Our electrical engineer and all round handy man, Adam, will help us design a selection of specialist lighting rigs to help maximise the photography opportunities in this often overcast and wet landscape.
If you would like to find out more about the expedition, please do get in touch with us here.