The Río Ayampe Reserve was established to protect the critically endangered Esmeraldas Woodstar (Chaetocercus berlepschi), a species of hummingbird found only in a small area on the west coast of Ecuador. Much of the land where the Woodstar breeds is owned by the local community of Las Tunas. In 2011, a formal agreement between the community and Ecuadorian non-profit conservation group Jocotoco Foundation (link to fjocotoco.org) was signed to work together to protect the Woodstar.