•We treat to understand how the systematic structure managed by government works through the so-called Forest Administration System in Amazonia of Ecuador.•It was analysis relation chain between ...regents, intermediaries and farmers, like actor in the forestry activity.•Lack of knowledge of the forest regulations is recurrent in the population and they perceived to be open to increase controls and training in order to stop informalities.
This study sought to understand how the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment systematic structure works through their so-called Forest Administration System (FAS). This system has generated different perceptions among those that are involved in this system the repercussions of the informalities of the population that subsists off the exploitation of their forests which have changed the market chain from a framework of legality to illegality and the institutional barriers and the costs that have to be met. This are only part of the difficulties faced by the FAS. In Ecuador, the Ministry of the Environment has tried to facilitate processes since 2013, when they allowed for a greater participation of the owners of hardwood farms and thus legalized the cutting and subsequent sale of the hardwood to generate more income for their family, in order to avoid the use of intermediaries and informal exploitation (illegal). It was found that the application of the FAS has achieved big changes, but there are still some faults to correct.
