Celebrations of Hope: Communities in Ecuador Honor Their Harlequin Toads

In 2025, three celebrations brought together entire communities across Ecuador to honor some of the country’s most emblematic amphibian species: the Jambato (Atelopus ignescens) in Angamarca, the Azuay Harlequin Toad (A. bomolochos) in Chordeleg, Azuay, and the Río Faisanes Harlequin Toad (A. coynei) in San Jacinto, Carchi. With music, dance, food, art, games, and the joyful voices of children and youth, these events demonstrated how deeply communities value the species that share their landscapes, and how culture and conservation can truly walk hand in hand.

Jambato Day in Angamarca: A Parade for a Legend of the Andes

On April 25, 2025, the streets of Angamarca filled with drums, laughter, and more than 500 people celebrating a species once feared lost forever. The iconic Jambato, black and orange like a glowing ember, disappeared from scientific records for nearly three decades. Its unexpected rediscovery in 2016 became a symbol of hope for Ecuador and for amphibian conservation worldwide.

Today, the Jambato has returned to community life, not as a common inhabitant of the páramos, but as a beloved reminder of resilience. For the third consecutive year, Angamarca celebrated the declaration of this species as a local emblem.

A celebration rooted in community

Alianza Jambato, member of the Atelopus Survival Initiative (ASI), organized the celebration together with local governments, schools, and the communities themselves.

The day began with a colorful parade led by a local marching band. Children proudly walked through town carrying handmade signs and Jambato-inspired artwork, while people clapped and danced from the sidewalks and alongside the parade. The colors of the Jambato, once nearly forgotten, appeared everywhere: in costumes, masks, banners, and painted faces.

After the parade, the community gathered in the local auditorium for a festival of creativity. Students sang, danced, recited poems, and presented drawings dedicated to their “black and orange friend.” Each performance honored the Jambato not only as an iconic animal, but as part of the community’s history and cultural identity.

More than a festival: building a future for the Jambato

One day before the celebration, conservationists, communities, researchers, government representatives, and local authorities gathered in a workshop to develop the first Conservation Action Plan for this Critically Endangered species.

The timing was no coincidence: conservation decisions were being made with the community, not apart from it. Together, the parade and workshop reflected a shared truth: saving the Jambato is not only a scientific challenge, but also a cultural process that depends on local pride, participation, and memory.

“A Song for the Azuay Harlequin Toad”: a cultural fair for Atelopus bomolochos

Just two days later, on April 27, 2025, another celebration took place in Chordeleg, Azuay, this time dedicated to the Azuay Harlequin Toad (A. bomolochos), an emerald-green and golden jewel of the southern Andes.

The First Artisan and Cultural Fair “A Song for the Jambato” welcomed around 500 visitors from morning until evening. The event was organized by ASI members Fundación Amaru and Cordillera Tropical, with support from local authorities and community organizations.

A fair bringing together tradition, creativity, and conservation

Under colorful tents, 39 artisans and local entrepreneurs offered products celebrating the region’s identity and the unique charm of the Azuay Harlequin Toad.

The fair featured traditional crafts including handwoven macanas, filigree jewelry, pottery, Panama hats, painted artwork, and ornamental plants, alongside educational products such as T-shirts, buffs, stickers, masks, and stamps featuring the species. Gastronomy also played an essential role in the celebration: special-edition craft beers, traditional desserts, and other local products connected cuisine with biodiversity and sustainable development.

Throughout the day, families enjoyed live music, folkloric dances, ballet performances, children’s games, painting contests, scientific talks, balloon art, and artistic performances. The fair became a space where people learned about threatened species, artisans strengthened their livelihoods, and conservation organizations found new allies within the community.

Why this fair matters

The Azuay Harlequin Toad lives within a very restricted high-Andean range, and its survival depends on the health of rivers, forests, and páramos. By celebrating the species through art, culture, and economic opportunities, the event helped position A. bomolochos as a symbol of local identity, not merely as an endangered species.

The fair also strengthened partnerships among governments, universities, foundations, and local organizations, which are already becoming the foundation for long-term conservation efforts in the region.

The San Jacinto Amphibian Festival: where culture, youth, and nature come together

In northern Ecuador, in the province of Carchi, the community of San Jacinto hosted another powerful celebration on June 27 and 28, 2025. The San Jacinto Amphibian Festival brought together around 250 people, including local residents, neighboring communities, tourists, and university students, for two days dedicated to celebrating their harlequin toads (Atelopus coynei and A. aff. longirostris) and other local amphibian species through culture, education, ecotourism, and youth leadership.

Culture, education, and community in action

The festival included a traditional barter market promoting agroecological farming, puppet and theater performances created by children, presentations by local musicians and dancers, and a variety of competitions, including nature photography for teenagers and amphibian painting contests for younger children.

Local associations also participated in a traditional food competition focused on healthy, local, and organic recipes; educational talks on conservation and sustainable agriculture; a community football tournament; and ecotourism activities such as a nighttime amphibian-watching excursion and an early morning birdwatching hike.

Youth at the heart of conservation

One of the festival’s most inspiring outcomes was the active participation of local teenagers. Often excluded from these types of events, this time they helped organize activities, guided visitors, created environmental signage, and acted as hosts. Their participation did not end with the festival: they are now more involved in conservation initiatives and have formed an ecological club to continue working together.

A festival of hope for a Critically Endangered frog

The festival was organized by Centro Jambatu, member of ASI, and the San Jacinto community, together with support from local associations, schools, local governments (parish, municipal, and provincial), and other organizations and projects such as Altropico and Ecogobtur.

Like the Jambato, A. coynei has become a symbol of hope. After severe declines in the late twentieth century, the species was believed lost until its rediscovery in 2012 in the communities of Chinambí and San Jacinto. Today, it remains Critically Endangered, with very small populations threatened by the expansion of agricultural practices, water contamination from agrochemicals, logging, infrastructure expansion, metallic mining, disease, climate change, and habitat degradation.

The festival demonstrated that protecting this small frog is a collaborative effort, where science, culture, and local identity become a shared commitment.

A Shared Message from the Andes: Conservation Begins With Community

From south to north, from Chordeleg to San Jacinto through central Angamarca, these celebrations conveyed a powerful message: harlequin toad conservation flourishes when people recognize these species as part of their stories, creativity, and pride.

Parades, music, children’s poems, handicrafts, scientific talks, traditional foods, football matches, and forest walks reinforced a message that goes beyond biology: when communities celebrate a species, they protect it. And when they protect it, hope returns to the mountains.

Conservation projects for these species are supported by the Atelopus Survival Initiative through funding from Re:wild, On the Edge, and Milkywire, with additional support from Stiftung Artenschutz, the Saint Louis Zoo, among others.