LOJA AND ZAMORA CHINCHIPE PROVINCES
Loja and Zamora Chinchipe Provinces have an area of more than 20 000 km2 and constitute the South Ecuador Region.
in this Southern Region the Andes are not so high as in the rest of the country, the summits do not exceed 3500 m.
but these two Provinces enjoy very different climates ; Zamora Chinchipe, in the East, is a rainy area, very similar to Morona Santiago Province.
Loja Province, in the West, has a completely different weather: if it rains on the Eastern fringes, the Province, West of the Loja-Vilcabamba road, is dry country, getting very dry farther West.
the climatic diversity along with the moderate elevations, allow for a limited overlap of the Eastern and Western faunas.
Podocarpus National Park, 1500 km2, straddles the two Provinces, and is supplemented by adjoining private reserves.
