Vital tree conservation in the Ecuadorian cloud forest

A group of scientists from the Biological Department of the UTPL and other universities characterized the genetic diversity of the populations of Cinchona officinalis L. from the province of Loja at Ecuador. This is a native species of cloud forests of the northern Tropical Andes that saved humanity from malaria but now is threatened because the past exploitation and the actual deforestation. They give key information and point the further necessary efforts for conserving the few remaining populations of this threatened species.