"Only small pockets of native coastal forest remained," she says.
A trail called Vereda la Meseta runs parallel to the beach through the dry coastal forest.
Vegetation in the lower elevations is a hemlock-spruce coastal forest.
In Ecuador alone it is estimated as little as 2% of this Pacific coastal forest remains intact.
Redwoods are a crucial species in the coastal forest ecosystem, dominating the upper layers of the forest canopy.
Together we protect one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, coastal forest, at Mareja reserve in north-eastern Mozambique.
For me, the path is the best part, as you pass waterfalls and walk in the shade of the Mata Atlântica, Brazil's dwindling virgin coastal forest.
This peaceful, 1,000-acre 1,000-acrech a number of conservatractgroups contend is the largest unprotected coastal forest betwhichthe Connecticut River anumber Yofk conservationthe center of a bitter dispute.
On the other, are many local residents, conservation groups and politicians working to ensure this thick coastal forest punctuated by granite outcroppings, marshes and stone walls remains in a natural state.
In the thornbushes and thickets of the arid regions are elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, giraffes, gerenuk, impalas, dik-diks, and various kinds of kudu; suni antelope, buffalo, and elephants are found in the coastal forest.
The native habitat of the species was in the lowland coastal forest in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, where habitat destruction had reduced numbers to 200 by the early 1970s.
