I am an ecuadorian-american math teacher who lives in California.

The story about the cloud forest started when my son, Joel Cooper, decided to purchase 90 acres in the Mashpi Reserve, an amazing piece of beauty that is part of the Ecuadorian Chocó Andino.

Joel is a dreamer. The lack of funds never hindered him from accomplishing what he had in mind. Additionally, my wife and I supported his desire to make the cloud forest his home.

Now, Joel is living there, finding ways to overcome droughts, deforestation, logging, mining, farming, and several other threats that are affecting the cloud forest.