Citation: Torres, B.; Andrade, V.; Heredia-R, M.; Toulkeridis, T.; Estupiñán, K.; Luna, M.; Bravo, C.; García, A. Productive Livestock Characterization and Recommendations for Good Practices Focused on the Achievement of the SDGs in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Sustainability 2022, 14, 10738. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710738 Academic Editors: Athanasios Ragkos and Alexandros Theodoridis Received: 29 July 2022 Accepted: 22 August 2022 Published: 29 August 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Productive Livestock Characterization and Recommendations for Good Practices Focused on the Achievement of the SDGs in the Ecuadorian Amazon Bolier Torres 1,2 , Verónica Andrade 3 , Marco Heredia-R 4, * , Theofilos Toulkeridis 5, * , Kleber Estupiñán 4 , Marcelo Luna 6 , Carlos Bravo 6 and Antón García 2 1 Facultad de Ciencia de la Vida, Universidad Estatal Amazónica (UEA), Pastaza 160101, Ecuador 2 Animal Science Department, University of Cordoba, Rabanales University Campus, 14071 Cordoba, Spain 3 Carrera Agropecuaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena 1 1 / 2 km Vía a Santa Elena, La Libertad 240204, Ecuador 4 Facultad de Ciencias Pecuarias y Biológicas, Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo (UTEQ), Quevedo Av. Quito km, 1 1 / 2 Vía a Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Quevedo 120550, Ecuador 5 Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Construcción, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolquí 171103, Ecuador 6 Facultad de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Estatal Amazónica (UEA), Puyo 160101, Ecuador * Correspondence: mherediar@uteq.edu.ec (M.H.-R.); ttoulkeridis@espe.edu.ec (T.T.) Abstract: The increase in livestock production in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region has caused an increase in deforestation and the advance of the agricultural frontier. The aim of the current study was to conduct a socioeconomic and productive characterization in Andean-Amazonian livestock systems in Ecuador. The study area was part of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve (SBR) and three other zones: low (400 to 700 masl), middle (701 to 1600 masl), and high (701 to 1600 masl). Data were collected from 167 ranching households. There are significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) in the results. It was identified that 56.1% of the producers in the middle zone are indigenous (Kichwa). The largest (p ≤ 0.01) average household size (6.7 household members) and the highest level of household heads without schooling (16%) were found in the same area. Heads of households over 54 years of age were reported throughout the gradient. The largest farms were also found in the middle zone, with an average of 62.3 ha, of which an average of 32.9 ha is native forest, 2.1 ha is agricultural land, and 27.2 ha is cattle pasture. The household economy is driven by a greater investment in livestock in the upper area, and therefore their annual gross income has a high impact on their economy. With these results, this study presents recommendations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Keywords: Amazon; livestock income; land use; livestock management; sustainable development goals; Ecuador 1. Introduction The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015 and are valid until 2030 [1–4]. They provide a shared agenda of peace and prosperity for people and the planet for the present and the future [5]. The 17 SDGs are an urgent call to action by all countries in a global alliance, recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivation must go hand in hand with strategies to improve health and education [6,7], minimize inequalities, stimulate economic growth while considering climate change [8,9], and work to preserve the oceans and forests [10,11]. In short, the SDGs exist within a common framework to overcome important interconnected challenges such as the food supply, water scarcity, weak health systems, human nutrition, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss [12,13]. However, several authors state that achieving the SDGs is an ambitious and complex task [14–16]. Sustainability 2022, 14, 10738. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710738 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability