El Ángel Ecological Reserve, Nature reserve in Carchi Province, Ecuador

El Ángel is a 16,541-hectare reserve in the Carchi parishes of La Libertad and El Ángel, Espejo canton, spanning 3,400 to 4,200 m. Its páramo, 80% of the area, is dominated by Espeletia pycnophylla frailejones up to seven metres tall, with thick woody stems and rosettes of stiff grey-green leaves spaced across the grass.

The reserve was declared a national ecological conservation reserve in 1986 and formally established on 5 August 1992, protecting mainly frailejón páramo across 16,541 hectares of the Cordillera Occidental in Carchi. It was classified as a Ramsar site in 2012 and, with the nearby Bosque Protector Golondrinas, as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

The frailejón (Espeletia pycnophylla) dominates the páramo here and grows taller and sturdier than elsewhere, reaching up to seven metres; its silhouettes are likened to soldiers on the attack or monks deep in thought. The mortiño berry, which grows alongside it, is used to prepare colada morada. Local tradition holds that the soul of Jerónimo Tudpe, an indigenous fighter who leapt into the largest lake rather than submit to Spanish conquerors, rests in the Lagunas del Voladero.

Several marked trails run through the area, including a roughly 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile) loop around a lagoon. The elevation requires slow walking and warm clothing, as conditions can shift quickly.

The Frailejones store water in their thick stems and release it slowly into the surroundings, acting as natural moisture regulators for the entire moorland. Some specimens can live over 100 years, forming forests of upright plants.