Some seventeen percent of Ecuador's mainland territory is protected within 24 state-run national parks and biological, wildlife and woodland reserves, in addition to 97 percent of the Galapagos Islands' land mass and a marine reserve surrounding them - the world's second largest. Encompassing mangroves, dry and wet tropical forests on the coast, cloud and montane forests, paramo and volcanoes in the sierra, and tropical rainforests in the Oriente, the protected areas represent a cross-section of the country's most outstanding natural attractions. Some have also earned international recognition - such as Sangay, a World Natural Heritage Site, and the Galapagos, another such site as well as being a World Biosphere reserve, as is Yasuni.

In many cases the parks hold pure wilderness, areas that are protected almost by default, as they're too remote and inaccessible to be developed. Other parts, however, are coming under increasing pressure due to the demands of industry. The job of managing the protected land falls to the Ministerio del Ambiente - formerly known as, and sometimes still referred to as both INEFAN (Instituto Ecuatoriano Forestal de Areas Naturales y Vida Silvestre) and the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente - whose key concerns are to conserve the biodiversity of the parks; stop poachers; and to prevent incursions from big business, most notably the oil and African-palm-oil industries. Due to a lack of resources, tourism has inevitably been put on the back burner, and infrastructure within the parks can be very limited. Even so, there's great potential to take advantage of these wildernesses, and with the help of a guide, a good map and camping equipment you can immerse yourself in some stunning and little-explored country.