The Manglares-Churute Ecological Reserve, created in 1979, is located at 45 minutes from Guayaquil. It covers an area of 49.383 Hectares and protects one of the few remaining coastal mangrove forests. The reserve occupies the major part of the mountain formation named Cordillera or Cerros de Churute and its adjacent areas of mangrove forest in the Gulf of Guayaquil. Within the reserve are areas of Tropical Dry Forest, and higher, in the northern part of mount Masvale, which is over 300 meters high, there are micro habitats of Humid Tropical Forest characterized by dense layers of fog and constant mist. There is also a 3.25 meter deep lagoon that covers over 1000 hectares and contains astonishing vegetation and fauna.

Among the plants and trees there are three orders, with 450 species of plants, many of them only identified to a level of genders; 25 species of fine wood trees. In the estuary, mangrove trees rise up to an altitude of over 15 meters, the highest in the world.