1. Land protection efforts ongoing, but challenges remain. In collaboration with Fundación Jocotoco, we have been working to purchase land for a Centinela Reserve. Two obstacles have slowed progress: rising land prices driven by demand for country homes from Santo Domingo, and increasing organized crime in western Ecuador since 2020. Crime syndicates have infiltrated local governments and law enforcement, creating real risks for the sustained infrastructure a reserve requires. We remain committed to the region and hopeful that conditions will improve — the Reserva Centinela remains our goal.

2. Data analysis underway. The floristic surveys have produced a rich dataset. We are now analyzing patterns of species diversity, drivers of rarity, and threats to species persistence in the Centinela flora and beyond.

3. New species under investigation. Since expeditions began in 2021, we have consistently been finding new records and unknown taxa. Stay tuned as we continue our investigations and publish new species from our collections.

4. Reorganizing for the next phase. We are restructuring the project and seeking funding to continue field, herbarium, and laboratory studies at Centinela.

1. Publication: Phragmotheca centinelensis, A New Canopy Tree: During inventories in the Recinto Milton Murillo, Andrea Fernández, Juan Carlos Cerón, and tree climber extraordinaire Luis Verdesoto encounter a massive canopy tree growing to 35 meters — with reddish, fissured bark, large palmately-veined leaves, and bright orange-pink flowers. Formally described in 2025, Phragmotheca centinelensis is the first new species of its genus described in the 21st century. Assessed as Endangered with only three known populations.

   1. • 📄 Guevara-Andino, White, Pitman, Cerón, Fernández, Navas-Muñoz & Alverson (2025). Phragmotheca centinelensis (Malvaceae), a newly-discovered, endangered canopy tree species from a cloud forest in Pacific Ecuador. PhytoKeys 254: 41–59. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.254.143106

2. Fondation Franklinia project concludes Key results from the two-year inventory and ex situ conservation project:

   1. Floristic Inventory Report A full report on the Centinela floristic inventory detailing survey methods, species coverage across 17 forest fragments, and conservation recommendations. (Download)

      • 1. 2026 addendum for Bosque Polanco and Bosque Protector Murocomba. (Download)

        2. 1,113 voucher specimens deposited at the National Herbarium of Ecuador (QCNE)

        3. Over 500 plant species catalogued across 17 forest fragments (8–500 ha)

   2. Dossier on 34 Threatened Tree Species Targeted for Population Enrichment  (Download)

      • Detailed accounts of population sizes, distributions, microhabitat observations, reproductive methods, and life history data.

   3. Results of seed and propagule collection by species and locality (2024-2025). (Download)

      • 2,737 seeds and saplings collected from 21 endangered tree species

      • Two restoration plantings completed: 258 seedlings planted to date

1. Publication: Refuting the Centinelan Extinction Hypothesis (Nature Plants) The landmark paper of the project. By synthesizing the unpublished 1983 Gentry checklist, global herbarium records, and targeted fieldwork, the team shows that 99% of Centinela’s purported endemics have been collected elsewhere and are not extinct. The high apparent endemism of 1991 was an artifact of incomplete botanical exploration — not a reflection of global extinction. Fieldwork in 2021–2023 yielded at least 8 species new to science and confirmed 11 species still known only from the broader Centinela region.

   1. • 📄 White, Pitman, Feeley, Rivas-Torres, Bravo-Sánchez, Sánchez-Parrales, Clark, Ulloa Ulloa, Cornejo, Couvreur, Peñafiel, Benavides, Bonifaz, Cerón, Fernández, Fortier, Navas-Muñoz, Rojas, Zapata, Williams, & Guevara-Andino (2024). Refuting the hypothesis of Centinelan extinction at its place of origin. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01832-7

2. Publication: Amalophyllon miraculum This tiny lithophytic herb, discovered growing pendent from wet rock faces near Centinela waterfalls, is formally described by John L. Clark and colleagues. The species name — miraculum — honors the extraordinary persistence of Centinela’s forests.

   1. • 📄 Clark, Fernández, Zapata, Restrepo-Villarroel, White & Pitman (2024). Amalophyllon miraculum (Gesneriaceae), an exceptionally small lithophilous new species from the western Andean slopes of Ecuador. PhytoKeys 242: 307–316. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.242.118069

      • Media:

        1. Science: “Decades after mass deforestation, scientists encounter ‘miraculous’ new plant species”: https://www.science.org/content/article/decades-after-mass-deforestation-scientists-encounter-miraculous-new-plant-species 

        2. Mongabay: “‘Miracle’ in miniature as rare new plant defies deforestation in Ecuador”: https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/miracle-in-miniature-as-rare-new-plant-defies-deforestation-in-ecuador/ 

        3. CNN: "Newly discovered species found in Ecuador lives up to its name, A. miraculum ": https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/13/science/ecuador-plant-amalophyllon-miraculum-centinela-scn/index.html

3. Team news: Andrea Fernández leaves the Viva Centinela project to pursue a Master’s Degree in Plant Evolution and Conservation with Jeremie Fant at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

4. Team news: Andrea Chaspuengal joins the Viva Centinela project as Lead Botanist.

• Funding: Mohammed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund awards money to support botanical inventories and conservation efforts for Gasteranthus extinctus in the Centinela region (MBZF Grant 232531505).

• Lead Botanist hired Andrea Fernández (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador) joins as Lead Botanist. Juan Carlos Cerón serves as assistant field botanist. Collections are processed at the Herbario Nacional del Ecuador — with deep thanks to Marcia Peñafiel and INABIO.

• Funding: Chicago Botanic Garden We receive funding to survey for Gasteranthus extinctus and Dracontium croatii and to begin a living conservation collection at the Jardín Botánico Padre Julio Marrero (JBPJM) in Santo Domingo.

• Funding: Fondation Franklinia grant We partner with the Jardín Botánico Padre Julio Marrero (JBPJM) and Fundación Jocotoco to launch a major conservation project. Led by Juan Guevara and Dawson White, the project will conduct floristic surveys, assess threatened tree species, collect seeds and propagules for ex situ conservation, and fund land purchase for a new Centinela reserve. Thanks to Martín Schaefer and the Fundación Jocotoco team.

• September 2023 — systematic surveys begin The most comprehensive survey of Centinela’s forests to date. The team includes John Clark (Selby Botanic Garden), Francisco Sánchez Parrales (JBPJM), and Gladys Benavides (Provincial Government of Santo Domingo). The expedition begins with a large population of Gasteranthus extinctus at Cascadas de Cristal.

• Publication: Eschweilera podoaquilae From 2021–2022 collections, Xavier Cornejo describes a new Lecythidaceae tree known from the Centinela region and the Reserva Mache Chindul in Esmeraldas Province.

Cornejo. Eschweilera podoaquilae: A new species of Lecythidaceae from northwestern Ecuador (2023). Phytotaxa 579 (2): 139–142. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.579.2.8

• A team including Xavier Cornejo, Francisco Tobar, Camilo Restrepo, and John L. Clark visits the Centinela region and encounters four species likely new to science: a miniature Amalophyllon (Gesneriaceae), a Lecythidaceae tree, an epiphytic orchid (see below), and a second saxicolous Gesneriaceae. Several other threatened species are recorded: Urceolina astrophiala (EN), Dracontium croatii (EN), Drymonia laciniosa (EN). 

• Publication: Xavier Cornejo and Eric Hágsater describe this new orchid species collected from the property of expatriate landowner Paul Henry in the Recinto Milton Murillo — the northernmost part of the Centinela region.

  • 📄 Epidendrum monicarmasiae Cornejo et Hágsater (2022)Icones Orchidacearum 19(2): 1956 ISSN 0188-4018

The paper reporting the rediscovery of G. extinctus at multiple sites in western Ecuador is published in PhytoKeys, formally reopening the story of Centinela. The paper proposes a revised IUCN status of Endangered (downgraded from Critically Endangered) and calls for targeted conservation of the region's remnant forests.

📄 Rediscovery of Gasteranthus extinctus L.E.Skog & L.P.Kvist (Gesneriaceae) at multiple sites in western Ecuador Pitman, White, Guevara Andino, Couvreur, Fortier, Zapata, Cornejo, Clark, Feeley, Johnston, Lozinguez & Rivas-Torres (2022) PhytoKeys 194: 33–46. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.194.79638

Media:

• Washington Post

• Gizmodo

• CNN

• In November 2021, a team of botanists returns to the Centinela region to search for surviving forest fragments and unique species.

• Surviving forests Over three days, the team documents dozens of forest remnants — along streams, on steep slopes, and in remote areas. The largest fragment is at least 50 ha and supports a population of Ecuadorian mantled howler monkeys. Satellite imagery later confirms at least 19 fragments of 8–144 ha remain across the region. Our team confirms statements regarding of the total destruction of Centinela’s forests were premature.

• Rediscovery of Gasteranthus extinctus The Critically Endangered cloud forest herb Gasteranthus extinctus — not collected since 1985 — is found at four sites in three days. It had been photographed on iNaturalist by university students in 2019 without being recognized. See 2022 for publication.

• New species found The expedition yields a new tree species (Sloanea sp. nov.) and records two of the four previously known Centinela-only species (Gasteranthus extinctus and Browneopsis macrofoliolata).

• Ongoing deforestation Deforestation is occurring during the visit, driven primarily by balsa and melina plantations.

• A key conservation site The privately held Bosques y Cascadas Las Rocas reserve — a spectacular ecotourism area with eight waterfalls and intact cloud forest — harbors at least two Centinela endemics and represents the most pressing nearby conservation opportunity.

These discoveries of 2021 justified to the founding of the ¡Viva Centinela! project, dedicated to documenting, conserving, and restoring what remains of one of the world's most biodiverse cloud forest regions.

• 2015 Carmen Ulloa and Nigel Pitman discover an unpublished 1984 checklist of Centinela plants among Alwyn Gentry’s papers at the Missouri Botanical Garden — the starting point for testing the Centinelan Extinction Hypothesis.

• 2018 Nigel Pitman, Juan Guevara, and Dawson White begin building a comprehensive database of all plant collections ever made and all species ever recorded at Centinela, searching herbaria and global biodiversity databases.

• 2019 Dawson White and Kenneth Feeley begin analyses of the geographic distributions of Centinela species.

• 2021 (pre-field) Analysis of historical collections identifies four plant species still known only from Centinela and presumed extinct: Gasteranthus extinctus, Browneopsis macrofoliolata, Amyris centinelensis, and Bifrenaria integrilabia.