Projecto Silvopastoril

(Environmental Documentary)

Specifications
Year of production: 2019
Project Type: Environmental Documentary
Direction, Cinematography, Editing: Alexander Maß
Country of Origin: Ecuador / Germany
Filming Locations: Parque Nacional Sangay, Ecuador
Producer: Alexander Maß / Fundación Cordillera Tropical (Cuenca, Ecuador)
Language: Spanish (English Subtitles)
Shooting Format: Digital (Color)
Aspect Ratio / Master: 16:9 / 2K
Runtime: 11:26 min

“I’ve always been close to nature and have enjoyed it, and I’ve seen how in every person, in every human being, a calling to care for the Earth occurs when, privately, their being tells them:
this you must do.” José Morquecho

Set in the influence area of Ecuador’s Sangay National Park, the film follows the farmer José Morquecho and a local silvopastoral initiative supported by Fundación Cordillera Tropical. The project integrates trees, shrubs, and forage species into working pasture, improving livestock nutrition while restoring Andean montane forest structure and biodiversity.

Beyond reforestation, the work tackles a mountain-region reality: fragmented, degraded native forest edges. By planting edible native trees along fence lines and waterways, silvopastoral “corridors” reconnect habitat, stabilize soil, reduce erosion, support pollinators, and add structural diversity to simplified landscapes. A participatory, incentive-based model provides seedlings, fencing, and technical guidance in exchange for voluntary conservation agreements that protect higher-elevation forest patches while making existing pasture more resilient.

Since launch, the program reports planting over 48,800 trees and has inspired replication by larger institutions. This proves that locally embedded, ecologically informed restoration can safeguard biodiversity and strengthen rural livelihoods.

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