The Special Donations Fund under the Programa de Protección de Bosques (Socio Bosque Fund) is part of a financial sustainability strategy headed by the national environmental authority in Ecuador with support from international cooperation agencies, and is managed under the National Environmental Fund (Fondo Ambiental Nacional).
The Forest Protection Program of the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, an initiative designed to conserve native forests, paramos and other plant formations, contributes to enhancing the living conditions of families and local communities. It began working in December 2008 with a contractual agreement to provide economic incentives to family and community owners of natural forests and paramos in exchange for their contractual undertaking to conserve them.