THE CORPORATION BEHIND ECUADOR BIRD FAIR
Pentandra
In the Amazon, a single tree can sustain thousands of lives. The kapok tree —Ceiba pentandra— rises nearly seventy meters above the forest canopy, and birds, insects, and mammals that never touch the ground nest in its branches and roots. We took our name from that tree.
Pentandra exists because we believe tourism can be like that kapok tree: a base strong enough to sustain entire communities, and a canopy that opens toward something greater than itself.
Ceiba Pentandra, Yasuní, Ecuador | ©Pancho Sornoza
Who we are
An Ecuadorian nonprofit corporation, founded in Quito to make sustainable tourism a tool for conservation as well.
Founded in 2026, we work throughout the country alongside local communities, public institutions, and international partners. Ecuador Bird Fair is our first major project: an annual gathering that brings together travelers, communities, and scientists around the country’s extraordinary bird diversity.
Five principles inherited from the very tree that gives us our name guide every project we undertake.
One name, five roots
In Greek, pentandra means “five stamens” — the kapok flower blooms with exactly five. We chose that same number for the pillars that support our work.
1. Conservation
Protecting Ecuador’s biodiversity and the ecosystems that sustain it.
2. Education
Teaching communities, travelers, and young people about the value of natural and cultural heritage.
3. Sustainability
Building a form of tourism that funds itself without depleting what makes it possible.
4. Equity
Including rural communities, peoples, and nationalities in every project.
5. Inclusion
Creating space, in particular, for people with visual impairments, who come to know birds first through their song.
Our Team
Four people lead Pentandra — the Board of Directors — elected by the General Assembly.
Norby Lopez
PRESIDENT
With more than 35 years of experience as a biologist, birdwatcher, and naturalist guide in Ecuador and other Neotropical destinations, Norby López is a co-founder of the Napo Wildlife Center, built in partnership with the Kichwa Añangu Community, which still co-owns it. His work has also extended into public tourism policy, including a role at Ecuador’s Ministry of Tourism. The lodges he has helped develop have been recognized among National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World. Today he chairs Pentandra, the organization behind Ecuador Bird Fair, bringing that same combination of field experience and institutional leadership.
Pancho Sornoza
VICE PRESIDENT
Francisco Sornoza Molina is an associate researcher at the National Institute of Biodiversity (INABIO), with more than three decades dedicated to the study of birds and the conservation of Ecuador’s biodiversity. In 2018 he described a species new to science, the Blue-throated Hillstar (Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus), a hummingbird endemic to the Andes of southwestern Ecuador, and is a founding member of the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation. His career bridges field research, protected area management, and birdwatching tourism — the same intersection of conservation and birding tourism that drives Pentandra.
Rocío Merino Utreras
SECRETARY
Rocío Merino Utreras is an Ecuadorian lawyer, a graduate of the Central University of Ecuador, with more than two decades of experience in biodiversity conservation, civil society organization management, and work with rural communities. At the Foundation she held various leadership positions, from which she drove the legal processes that helped protect private reserves and threatened ecosystems in Ecuador, as well as supporting rural women’s economic independence through ASOLIDER. Today she serves as Secretary of Pentandra, bringing that same combination of legal rigor and community commitment.
Oswaldo Ponce
TREASURER
Owi Ponce is a photographer, birder, and founder of Owi Photo Tours, his own company offering bird photography tours and sustainable tourism. With a master’s degree in Sustainable Tourism, he is the author of the book Aves del Medio del Mundo, through which he hopes to help the local community recognize and value its birdlife, promoting conservation through photography and the use of native plants in wildlife gardens. In addition to giving talks on photography, birds, and conservation, he brings that same vision — sustainable business paired with a commitment to nature — to his work as Treasurer of Pentandra.
Every edition of Ecuador Bird Fair is further proof that this tree keeps growing.
PENTANDRA CORPORATION
Luis Felipe Borja N9-423 and Charles Darwin
Conocoto, Quito — Ecuador
+593 99 901 1505
co****@***il.com
