Rapid Response Project To Save The Mindo Toad

The project seeks to safeguard the only known population of the critically endangered Mindo Harlequin Toad. A rapid-response monitoring initiative will be launched to confirm the species’ presence in a newly available land plot. This crucial step is needed to secure funding for the immediate purchase and protection of the adjacent upstream habitat. Preserving this land is vital to ensure the survival of the species, which depends entirely on this limited and fragile ecosystem.

Declared “possibly extinct” after 1989, the Mindo Harlequin Toad was unexpectedly rediscovered in 2019 in a pristine cloud forest stream—now the only known location of its survival. Until recently, the land housing this population was not for sale. In 2024, this changed, and the property is now on the market. Should this land fall into the hands of parties uninterested in conservation, the last remaining population faces imminent extinction. Immediate action is required to secure the habitat and prevent the permanent loss of this unique amphibian species.