The government announced on March 24 a national campaign called “Tradition and Conservation Go Hand in Hand” at the Quito Botanical Garden. The initiative aims to encourage the use of alternative and recyclable materials for making bouquets, reducing illegal extraction of the wax palm, an endemic species important to Andean ecosystems that is often affected during Holy Week celebrations.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, which has led this effort for more than 15 years, the campaign coordinates actions with the Catholic Church and National Police to safeguard six species of wax palm from the Ceroxylon genus. Several of these species are classified as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered.
The removal of young leaves, known as “cogollos,” poses a threat not only to wax palms but also to wildlife that depends on them. This practice can involve cutting down slow-growing palms that may take over 80 years to reproduce and live more than 200 years, making recovery difficult.
Beyond their cultural significance, wax palms play an essential role in Andean ecosystems. Their fruit provides food for birds and mammals, while their structure offers shelter for species such as the golden-plumed parakeet and yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis), which is globally vulnerable and critically endangered in Ecuador. The loss of these trees impacts key functions like water regulation and mountain ecosystem stability.
To address this issue, the campaign promotes sustainable materials such as laurel, corn husks, straw, myrtle, totora reed, cypress, lemon verbena (cedrón), bamboo, sigse grass, and ornamental flowers for bouquet-making. Training programs are being offered to artisans, merchants, local communities as well as environmental education strategies in academic settings.
Current legal regulations impose prison sentences ranging from one to three years for those involved in illegal extraction or trade of this species under Ecuador’s Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code.
