<div><strong>We can do it! We can preserve our 90,000m2 of Wildlife Sanctuary only 15 minutes from Quito Airport with your help! </strong>
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<div><strong>A NATURAL SANCTUARY with <em>over 110 birding species</em> is threatened by the City Growth and an INVASIVE PLANT SPECIE, <em>called Susanita</em>, that destroys the natural habitat.</strong>
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<div>We are Daniel Cruz and Jimena Lopez, and many of you have visited our family eco-tourism project, the <strong>Hacienda Jimenita Wildlife Reserve, located 15 minutes from Quito Airport, in Ecuador. </strong>
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<div>Over 100 years this property has been in our family and during the last 30 years we have made a huge effort to protect one of the <strong>LAST NATURAL BIRDING &amp; WILDLIFE REFUGEES</strong> near Quito Airport. <strong>We have planted more than 1,000 Plants and Native Trees</strong> like Cholan, Pumamaqui, Arete de Bruja, Chilca, Nogal, Guabas, Tilos, 7 Cueros, and many others that have contributed to this <em>natural refugee and home of </em><strong><em>more than 110 Bird Species </em></strong><em>including the Giant Hummingbird, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Southern-Yellow Grossbeak, Harris Hawk, Vermillion Flycatcher, Buff-throated Mountain Tanager, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker and others. </em>
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<div><strong>We are personally asking for your immediate help to raise USD $25,000 by November 16, 2023 to plant 100 New Trees and control/prevent the Susanita invasive species from our Natural Refugee, to start.</strong> A second phase will be to plant 1000 plants and trees to preserve this hidden sanctuary.
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<div><strong>About the “Susanita” Invasive Plant</strong>
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<div>Susanita captivates with its shapes and orange colors, but <strong>generates serious environmental impacts</strong>.
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<li>At the moment there is no formula to eradicate it.
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<li>It is a plague that rapidly destroys biodiversity, it is of African origin and it arrived in Ecuador in 1961.
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<li>It was thought to be ornamental but only in 2023 the authorities alert of it invasive presence, already in 20 provinces of Ecuador.
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<div><strong>The Susanita plant adapts to any condition and covers everything in its path like a cloak, it grows quickly like a vine and kills the other native plants. If there is no proper control, this plant can end biodiversity. </strong>The most fragile places are the ravines in the valleys of Tumbaco and near the Quito Airport. <strong>Eradicating it is not easy, the use of herbicides can also kill native plants, so it has to be removed manually.</strong>
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<div>The real threat is when, in a few years, this flower will occupy all natural ecosystems. The invasion of territories would supply the space of endemic plants. Exotic animals and birds species that feed on these plants would be in danger. The alteration of the ecosystem incurs in a high degree to the point of causing a change of climatic seasons.
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<div>As many of you have visited the property, you understand the importance of our Sanctuary to both Flora and Fauna. There are always a lot to do and the costs keep rising, so we need your support to continue preserving this Sanctuary.
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<div><strong>It's now or never. Your donations makes all the difference. </strong>
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<div><strong>WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU!</strong>
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<div>Sincerely,
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<div>Daniel and Jimena
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Millan Patel

Andrew Jagger

Anonymous

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