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It is into this political vacuum that a safety net of non-governmental organizations has grown to play a more important role in the conservation of Ecuador's fragile environment. Many observers agree that a loose-knit community of national and foreign organizations has become more vital in protecting Ecuador's fragile ecosystems from oil drilling, mining, deforestation and the encroachment of farmers.

Since the ministry was formed in 1996, Ecuador's protected parks and reserves have undergone myriad transformations. More power has been gradually transferred to non-governmental groups, and now management duties of many parks and reserves are being passed from the central government to local officials.

Under this decentralization, duties previously handled by the Quito-based Ministry of Environment are being given to provincial and local governments. Conservation experts say decentralization could energize localities to promote their parks -- or it could create more paperwork and little progress.

In 1996, the Ecuadorian government started the delegation process when it helped create the Fondo Ambiental Nacional (FAN). A foundation hoping to take over basic management and operating costs at several of Ecuador's national parks, FAN is beginning to work this year in seven national parks and reserves.

FAN receives $1 million each year from the ministry. The rest of the group's $11 million annual budget comes from the World Bank, a German government loan, a grant from the Dutch government, and varying grants and donations from private investors and corporations.

Several Latin American nations have formed independent conservation foundations in the last decade, said Santiago Silva, the acting director of FAN's Protected Areas program. These independent organizations have been very effective in helping national reserves run more efficiently, he said.

"It is very helpful to be outside of the government," Silva said. "We are able to work without the bureaucracy."

FAN is still a new organization and will show in the coming years whether the Ecuadorian government's delegation of environmental duties is a success.

In October of 2002, several non-governmental organizations recognized that the government needed support in its conservation efforts and united to form the Permanent Support Group of Ecuador's Protected Areas (GAPAP). Ecuador is also home to dozens of conservation and tourism groups working to preserve their own private lands.

Érica Narváez, who works with Ecopar, an organization supporting sustainable maintenance of tropical ecosystems in Ecuador, said the government simply can not handle the task of maintaining all of this country's precious ecosystems.

"There isn't enough (government) money for all the jobs that need to be done," she said.

Decentralization was begun in 2000 as a solution to the Ministry of Environment's inability to oversee all of Ecuador's parks and reserves from an office in Quito. But local administration means more bureaucracy. And when more people are involved, corruption grows.

"There are problems with the decentralization," Narváez said. "The corruption is terrible."