The Mache River is a river that enters the Pacific Ocean through the Cojimies Estuary on the north coast of Ecuador.
Location
The sources of the river are protected by the
Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, which covers the Mache Chindul mountain range.
The Mache River is one of the main tributaries of the Cojimies Estuary.
Seven rivers flow into the estuary, but their flows have been drastically reduced and only four now flow year round.
The river is deflected to the north by the Cojimíes peninsula before entering the Pacific.
The peninsula encloses a bay fringed with mangroves, with sandbars forming at its mouth.
Environment
The estuary, on the border between
Esmeraldas and
Manabí provinces, contains a large section of mangroves in the
Manabí mangroves
The Manabí mangroves (NT1418) is an ecoregion along the Pacific coast of Ecuador. The mangroves serve important functions in the marine and terrestrial ecology.
They have been severely degraded and fragmented, particularly in the northern region. ...
ecoregion.
There has been extensive excavation of shrimp ponds in the salt marshes and mangroves of the bay.
There has been a serious decline in fish such as ''chame'' (''
Dormitator latifrons
''Dormitator latifrons'', the Pacific fat sleeper, is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae found on the Pacific coast of the Americas from around Palos Verdes, California, to Peru, where it can be found in stagnant or sluggish fresh or brac ...
'') and cockles, important sources of food and income for the local people.
The two barrier islands at the mouth of the estuary are nesting areas for birds and turtles, and have ecotourism potential.
See also
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List of rivers of Ecuador
The rivers of Ecuador are an important part of the nation's geography and economy. Most of the over 2,000 rivers and streamsTerry have headwaters in the Andes mountain range, flowing therefrom either westward toward the Pacific Ocean or eastward to ...
References
Sources
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Rivers of Ecuador
{{Ecuador-river-stub