https://colombia.wcs.org RSS feeds for WCS Colombia 60 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/26021/Restoring-to-Recover-the-Upper-Saldana-River-Basin.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=26021 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=26021&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/26021/Restoring-to-Recover-the-Upper-Saldana-River-Basin.aspx After years of deforestation and land-use practices that degraded forests and water sources, researchers and rural communities are working to restore the ecosystems of this region. They are doing so through the establishment of conservation agreements, restoring forests, and promoting productive activities that aim to balance environmental health with local livelihoods. zrios@wcs.org Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:03:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:26021 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/26003/WCS-Backs-Urgent-Protections-for-Giant-Otter-at-Wildlife-Summit-in-Brazil.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=26003 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=26003&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/26003/WCS-Backs-Urgent-Protections-for-Giant-Otter-at-Wildlife-Summit-in-Brazil.aspx The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is supporting a proposal to secure for this endangered species the highest level of protection under CMS while strengthening international cooperation across its range in the Amazon, Orinoco, and Pantanal river basins. Proposal 30.2.3 would list the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) on both Appendix I and Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), as governments prepare to convene for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP15) in Campo Grande, Brazil, from March 23–29. zrios@wcs.org Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:32:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:26003 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25935/Parks-Rangers-Gather-from-Six-Countries-to-Strengthen-Skills-to-Protect-the-Amazon.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25935 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25935&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25935/Parks-Rangers-Gather-from-Six-Countries-to-Strengthen-Skills-to-Protect-the-Amazon.aspx More than 30 park rangers from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname gathered in Lima to complete the final training and evaluation of the World Bank–led Amazon Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) Regional Park Rangers project. The innovative initiative seeks to strengthen skills to better equip rangers to respond to the complex and evolving challenges they face on the ground. zrios@wcs.org Tue, 03 Mar 2026 21:35:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25935 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25909/Stephen-Ham-Named-Senior-Vice-President-and-Chief-Development-Officer-of-the-Wildlife-Conservation-Society.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25909 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25909&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25909/Stephen-Ham-Named-Senior-Vice-President-and-Chief-Development-Officer-of-the-Wildlife-Conservation-Society.aspx The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has announced the appointment of Stephen L. Ham as Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, effective March 1, 2026. A highly collaborative senior executive with more than 20 years of experience leading global philanthropy strategies, Ham will oversee WCS’s comprehensive fundraising efforts, advancing the organization’s mission to save wildlife and wild places worldwide. He currently serves as WCS’s Vice President of Individual Giving. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:57:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25909 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25697/Landmark-decisions-at-CITES-CoP20-deliver-historic-safeguards-for-species-many-threatened-by-the-global-pet-trade.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25697 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25697&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25697/Landmark-decisions-at-CITES-CoP20-deliver-historic-safeguards-for-species-many-threatened-by-the-global-pet-trade.aspx As the 20th meeting of the  CITES CoP20 concluded, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) welcomed a series of landmark decisions that will strengthen trade regulations for threatened species—including many heavily targeted by the global pet trade—while also warning that several decisions could jeopardize hard-won conservation gains.   WCS delegates from across the globe brought decades of scientific and policy expertise to Samarkand, working to ensure that Party decisions were grounded in rigorous, evidence-based conservation science. zrios@wcs.org Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:28:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25697 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25661/Camera-Traps-allies-to-understand-and-protect.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25661 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25661&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25661/Camera-Traps-allies-to-understand-and-protect.aspx The devices installed in the upper Saldaña River basin in Tolima reveal the area’s biodiversity and show how conservation agreements are starting to deliver results. Landowners and residents take an active role, strengthening their connection to the territory and their commitment to nature. Discover the species recorded, the impact of monitoring on the community’s perception, and how knowledge and conservation come together to protect life in this region. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 26 Nov 2025 21:41:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25661 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25417/Students-Adopt-Threatened-Trees.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25417 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25417&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25417/Students-Adopt-Threatened-Trees.aspx Children taking part in this initiative study in several rural schools across the Department of Tolima, nestled in Colombia’s Central Andes. In addition to helping care for species facing different levels of threat, this enthusiastic group of young collaborators is also seizing the opportunity to learn about the importance of wildlife and how to protect it. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 29 Oct 2025 08:15:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25417 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25391/Environmental-organizations-warn-of-deforestation-in-the-Amazon-every-minute-an-area-of-forest-equivalent-to-six-football-fields-is-lost.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25391 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25391&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25391/Environmental-organizations-warn-of-deforestation-in-the-Amazon-every-minute-an-area-of-forest-equivalent-to-six-football-fields-is-lost.aspx The Amazon is dangerously close to its tipping point. Every minute, an area of rainforest equivalent to six football / soccer fields is deforested, according to an estimate by WWF using data from MapBiomas. Amid this socio-environmental crisis, a group of environmental and scientific organizations have joined forces in an unprecedented alliance to create Amazon League, a global campaign that seeks to mobilize civil society and present a joint petition at COP30, demanding concrete actions to stop the collapse of the Amazon and protect the planet's other tropical forests. zrios@wcs.org Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:33:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25391 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25310/The-Upper-Saldana-River-Basin-and-Its-Voluntary-Conservation-Agreements.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25310 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25310&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25310/The-Upper-Saldana-River-Basin-and-Its-Voluntary-Conservation-Agreements.aspx Caring for the land also helps boosts agricultural productivity — and in this effort, voluntary conservation agreements play a key role. Across the Central Andes in Tolima, an increasing number of cattle ranchers and coffee growers are signing these agreements to protect forests and freshwater ecosystems. So, how does this good-faith mechanism actually work? zrios@wcs.org Wed, 08 Oct 2025 08:40:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25310 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25080/Guardians-by-Choice-Civil-Society-Nature-Reserves.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=25080 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25080&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/25080/Guardians-by-Choice-Civil-Society-Nature-Reserves.aspx A group of landowners in southern Tolima is showing that citizens, too, can be conservationists. By turning their properties into Civil Society Nature Reserves, they are committing to the protection of forests, rivers, and unique species, while also adopting practices that are more environmentally friendly. Discover their stories and how, from their own land, they are changing the future of Colombia’s biodiversity. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:55:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25080 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24625/WCS-Leads-International-Workshop-on-Ex-Situ-Management-of-Wildlife-from-Illegal-Trafficking.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=24625 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24625&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24625/WCS-Leads-International-Workshop-on-Ex-Situ-Management-of-Wildlife-from-Illegal-Trafficking.aspx For three days, more than 70 professionals and technicians from Colombian environmental authorities, representatives from wildlife rescue centers, and experts in the care of animals rescued from illegal trafficking are coming together to share experiences and strengthen their capacities in the care and rehabilitation of confiscated wildlife. zrios@wcs.org Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:05:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24625 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24550/A-rural-dialogue-on-conservation-and-production.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=24550 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24550&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24550/A-rural-dialogue-on-conservation-and-production.aspx From Chaparral and Planadas, in the department of Tolima, a group of farmers traveled to the municipality of El Águila, in the north of Valle del Cauca, to exchange ideas on both topics. The meeting was inspired by two successful conservation initiatives. What motivated this gathering? What were its main takeaways? zrios@wcs.org Wed, 14 May 2025 17:32:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24550 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24552/The-endangered-Quindio-wax-palm-and-its-conservation-in-Roncesvalles.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=24552 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24552&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24552/The-endangered-Quindio-wax-palm-and-its-conservation-in-Roncesvalles.aspx In this municipality in the southwest of Tolima, and with the support of the local communities, work has been underway to plant, in the next two years, close to two thousand individuals of this species. This important commitment includes research on methods to optimize seed germination in shorter periods of time. The main objective, ultimately, is to add to the survival of Colombia's national tree in these Andean areas. zrios@wcs.org Tue, 08 Apr 2025 19:43:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24552 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24551/The-Saldana-river-history-of-a-basin-of-life.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=24551 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24551&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/24551/The-Saldana-river-history-of-a-basin-of-life.aspx The Saldaña River, the main tributary of the Magdalena River in the Department of Tolima, is the focus of a conservation strategy being implemented in the upper part of this remarkable watershed. Representatives from the partner institutions leading the effort share their experiences, challenges, and achievements. The work is concentrated in three sub-watersheds of the Central Andes, in the south of Tolima. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 19 Mar 2025 17:59:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24551 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17265/AN-ENTIRE-COMMUNITY-CARING-FOR-THE-GIANT-SOUTH-AMERICAN-RIVER-TURTLE.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=17265 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=17265&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17265/AN-ENTIRE-COMMUNITY-CARING-FOR-THE-GIANT-SOUTH-AMERICAN-RIVER-TURTLE.aspx This year, an entire community that voluntarily decided to participate in the protection of the Giant South-American river turtle, a critically endangered species, will be present during its nesting season. This process, which has been overseen by Proyecto Vida Silvestre for seven years, now has a new perspective: the empowerment of the community of the Santa María de la Virgen village, making this task progressively more autonomous and sustainable. zrios@wcs.org Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:15:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:17265 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17266/CONCERTED-ACTIONS-FOR-CONSERVATION-VOLUNTARY-AGREEMENTS-FOR-THE-ENVIRONMENT.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=17266 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=17266&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17266/CONCERTED-ACTIONS-FOR-CONSERVATION-VOLUNTARY-AGREEMENTS-FOR-THE-ENVIRONMENT.aspx The purpose of 33 conservation agreements signed with an equal number of peasant families in Colombia’s Central Range is to make certain habitual production activities of rural life more eco-friendly, especially with the water resources of this Andean region. What does this conservation strategy consist of? We invite you to read this story. zrios@wcs.org Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:12:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:17266 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17267/NEW-WEBSITE-WITH-CRUCIAL-INFORMATION-ON-THE-COMBAT-AGAINST-WILDLIFE-AND-TIMBER-TRAFFICKING-IN-ANDEAN-AMAZONIAN-COUNTRIES.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=17267 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=17267&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17267/NEW-WEBSITE-WITH-CRUCIAL-INFORMATION-ON-THE-COMBAT-AGAINST-WILDLIFE-AND-TIMBER-TRAFFICKING-IN-ANDEAN-AMAZONIAN-COUNTRIES.aspx The Alliance for Wildlife and Forests developed a website that includes activities, progress and results in the combat against wildlife and timber trafficking in Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia and Brazil. zrios@wcs.org Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:17267 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17241/LANDSCAPE-SPECIES-FIRST-LINK-FOR-BIODIVERSITY-CONSERVATION.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=17241 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=17241&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/17241/LANDSCAPE-SPECIES-FIRST-LINK-FOR-BIODIVERSITY-CONSERVATION.aspx An article published in the magazine of the Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (Academy of Physics, Exact and Natural Sciences), based on the experience of Proyecto Vida Silvestre (PVS) (Project Wildlife), concludes that conservation work with a certain group of important species redounds in the welfare of others. zrios@wcs.org Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:00:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:17241 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16304/MORE-FAMILIES-IN-THE-DAGUA-MUNICIPALITY-SUPPORT-THE-CONSERVATION-OF-THE-ANDEAN-BEAR.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=16304 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=16304&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16304/MORE-FAMILIES-IN-THE-DAGUA-MUNICIPALITY-SUPPORT-THE-CONSERVATION-OF-THE-ANDEAN-BEAR.aspx In San José del Salado and El Limonar, two localities of this municipality of the Department of Valle del Cauca, owners of farms joined the strategy that allocates areas within the properties for the consolidation of a biological corridor to maintain the biodiversity. zrios@wcs.org Thu, 24 Jun 2021 20:23:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:16304 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16303/IN-TOLIMA-THE-WATER-OF-THREE-RIVERS-IS-MONITORED-TO-PRESERVE-LIFE.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=16303 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=16303&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16303/IN-TOLIMA-THE-WATER-OF-THREE-RIVERS-IS-MONITORED-TO-PRESERVE-LIFE.aspx The project 'Rio Saldaña – Una cuenca de vida' monitors the quality of this vital resource in the Siquila, Amoyá y Cucuana Rivers, to identify the pressures affecting it, take corrective action to strengthen its care and teach communities to preserve it. zrios@wcs.org Thu, 24 Jun 2021 20:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:16303 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16302/THE-PRESENCE-IN-COLOMBIA-OF-A-STINGRAY-ONLY-REPORTED-FOR-CENTRAL-AMERICA-IS-CONFIRMED.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=16302 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=16302&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16302/THE-PRESENCE-IN-COLOMBIA-OF-A-STINGRAY-ONLY-REPORTED-FOR-CENTRAL-AMERICA-IS-CONFIRMED.aspx This species (Styracura pacifica) had always been reported in Central America, but a study of the Fundación MarViva, Fundación Squalus and WCS shows that its distribution is wider because it includes the Colombian Pacific and possibly Ecuador. zrios@wcs.org Thu, 24 Jun 2021 20:09:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:16302 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16301/THE-EXTRACTION-OF-ANIMALS-FROM-THEIR-HABITATS-WILDLIFE-TRAFFICKING-IMPAIRS-HEALTH-OF-ESSENTIAL-ECOSYSTEMS.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=16301 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=16301&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16301/THE-EXTRACTION-OF-ANIMALS-FROM-THEIR-HABITATS-WILDLIFE-TRAFFICKING-IMPAIRS-HEALTH-OF-ESSENTIAL-ECOSYSTEMS.aspx Pest and disease control, seed dispersal, pollination and hundreds of food chains are some of the affected processes when native animals are extracted from their habitats to become pets or to be sold abroad. zrios@wcs.org Thu, 24 Jun 2021 20:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:16301 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/15781/COLOMBIA-WILL-CONDUCT-THE-FIRST-CENSUS-OF-THE-ANDEAN-CONDOR.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=15781 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15781&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/15781/COLOMBIA-WILL-CONDUCT-THE-FIRST-CENSUS-OF-THE-ANDEAN-CONDOR.aspx The objective is to identify the greatest possible number of specimens through observers distributed in different regions of the country and to calculate an approximate number of surviving individuals in the territory. This information will be crucial in the determination of conservation actions for this symbolic species in critical danger of extinction. The Andean condor is inherent to Colombia. It is not only a symbol on its national coat of arms; it is also imbedded in the culture of some of its most important indigenous people, who consider it a superior being. For instance, the Nasa indigenous community say that “he is the grandfather who watches from above and regulates energies. He becomes angry when people do not act well in the territory”, explains the tradition of this ethnic group. But the species, distributed from Venezuela to Argentina, is decimated in our country and there are no longer many individuals that can appraise the status of Mother Earth.  The Andean condor is in critical danger of extinction, despite the efforts made at the end of the 80’s to recover it, among which the liberation of 69 specimens with the support of the Zoological Society of San Diego (United States). Regardless of its significance and representativity, at this moment of the XXI Century the impacts of these efforts are still highly uncertain. Twenty years ago, some scientists talked of 60 condors left in the entire national territory. Today, more optimistic surveys estimate between 90 and 130 surviving individuals, overflying the snow-capped mountains of Santa Marta and El Cocuy (Boyacá), in some paramos like Almorzadero located between Santander and Norte de Santander and in zones such as La Guajira, Cesar and Cauca. They have also been reported in the Puracé (Cauca and Huila), Tamá (Norte de Santander), Chingaza (Cundinamarca), Galeras (Nariño) and Los Nevados (Tolima, Quindío and Caldas) National Parks, among others. Bur, are they really there? Can they be seen in other places? How many really exist in our departments?    The Primer Censo Nacional del Cóndor Andino (First National Census of the Andean Condor), which will take place in the country between the 13th. and the 15th. of February, wants to answer these questions. It was organized by the Fundación Neotropical (Neotropical Foundation) with the support of Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (National Natural Parks of Colombia), WWF, WCS and the Fundación Hidrobiológica George Dahl (George Dahl Hydrobiological Foundation). Other organizations, such as the Fundación Cóndor Andino-Ecuador (Andean Condor-Ecuador Foundation), the Corporación Autónoma de Caldas (Regional Environmental Authority of Caldas) (Corpocaldas) and the Fundación Ecológica Los Colibríes de Altaquer (Ecological Foundation The Hummingbirds of Altaquer (FELCA), slowly joined. “There is an enormous information gap. Something complex happens with the condors: due to their high mobility: the individual seen in Santander can be the same one observed in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This is why it is necessary to use the simultaneous count method with many people, at the same time, collecting information. This avoids the recount of individuals”, explains Fausto Sáenz, Fundación Neotropical researcher and one of the coordinators of the census. People of different disciplines, of age, who registered voluntarily and on-line until last December, will be in charge of reporting sightings (at the end of 2020 there were 174 people registered). The idea is for them, with support from the environmental authorities, universities and other organizations, to be able to report the greatest possible number of condors from strategic sites previously chosen based on historical records or satellite analyses and where, supposedly, established populations of Vultur gryphus, its scientific name, could exist. To assure the success of the observers, they will be organized in groups and trained and guided by several regional coordinators, to give them basic skills - such as differentiating males from females - that will enable them to identify the condors in flight and register the corresponding data on a digital platform.Vulnerable in spite of flying high It will be an invigorating task for all of them, as they most surely admire nature, because seeing a condor is an extraordinary experience, among other things, due to its magnificence.  It is one of the biggest birds in the world, typical of the paramos and the forests; it can reach a three meter wingspan and cover 300 kilometers in one day, only flapping its wings 1 percent of the time. Condors dominate the skies and although they are always distant, they are vulnerable, because their reproductive rates are extremely low. Females lay one egg every two or three years, reach their reproductive age after 8 and their chicks remain at their parents’ side more than 12 months.  And they are monogamous, that is, they have only one couple for their entire life.But in addition to this strictly natural behavior, that is not as prolific or fertile as would be wished, human pressures are a major concern: infrastructure such as power lines with which they frequently collide, decrease of safe places to eat and  nest (they prefer cliffs) and the poisoning of carrion, their preferred food.However, ironically, with their ingestion of this meat in decomposition, they reduce the probability of transmission of diseases generated by pathogenic agents that develop in what for humans is only waste and where opportunistic species or disease vectors (rodents or insects) accumulate.  “Many farmers poison the meat of sheep or cows killed by a bear, a feline or a dog, and throw it out in the field as a strategy to chase away the predator. But, indirectly, condors ingest that meat. Ten or 15 individuals can arrive to eat and they will die” says Saénz, who explains that, in addition to this indirect conflict, a direct human-condor clash also exists. There are cases in which a condor attacks a newly born calf or sheep and its owners hunt it in retaliation.  Improve re-population Saénz, who has studied the species, the focus of his PhD studies, for more than ten years, adds that it is decisive “for the census to determine where the most important wild populations are, in order to make a better re-population, a process that additionally takes into account the ratio adult males to adult females.”This is vital because, among condors, the male dominates the female and the female has a higher mortality rate due precisely to that dominance which means, among other things, less access to food. “Therefore, if a process of re-introduction releases many males in determined zones, the females are going to suffer more. In this connection, the census will let us know what to do to avoid an unbalance between individuals”, adds the expert. Due to all the above and in order to safeguard its existence, it is necessary to know exactly where this iconic bird lives, where its most important populations are and, with the support of the community, to direct the main actions towards those coordinates to protect it. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 03 Feb 2021 15:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15781 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/15782/MORE-THAN-HALF-OF-THE-WORLDS-FORESTS-HAVE-THEIR-INTEGRITY-AFFECTED.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=15782 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15782&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/15782/MORE-THAN-HALF-OF-THE-WORLDS-FORESTS-HAVE-THEIR-INTEGRITY-AFFECTED.aspx 60% of the planet’s forest coverage, survival of deforestation, has been impacted or transformed, highly or moderately, by man. The research led by WCS and recently published by Nature, appeals for a restraint of these modifications in the forest environment, if we want to prevent future pandemics or mitigate climate change. Talking of forests, often the concern is focused on the influence of deforestation on them. And it is quite frequently normal to measure what is destroyed, but almost never what remains. A research recently published by the prestigious magazine Nature Communications changes that approach, because it focused on analysis, what its authors define as Ecosystem Integrity Index or Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) that refers to and shows the status of the forests that still survive in the world. The study was carried out by close to 50 international experts working for organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, the University of Arizona, the Rainforest Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the University of Queensland. All were led by WCS and its Director of Conservation Planning, Hedley Grantham. Cristián Samper, Executive Director of the organization and .Padú Franco, WCS Director for the Andes, Orinoquia and Amazonía, participated. The participants, based on this index, were able to establish that 40 percent of the planet`s forest coverage has a good status of ecological integrity. The rest (60%) is highly impacted (it has from medium to low integrity). Of this 40 percent, only 27 percent is legally protected or covered by designations that offer protection and could guarantee a future without damage. The biogeographic Amazonia and Chocó The forests with a high Ecosystem Integrity Index or with reduced impacts, in accordance with this research, are located mainly in Canada, Russia, Central Africa (Congo and Gabon, Sudan, Angola and Mozambique) and New Guinea, Sumatra, Borneo and Myanmar. In South America there are positive results in the Amazon biome that covers Guyana, French Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Perú, Venezuela and Ecuador. There are also conserved glades in the south of Chile as well as in some places of Central America. “The Amazon biome contains, without a doubt, part of the most unaltered forests of the planet. Their conservation is imperative if we want the world to overcome the big crises it faces today: climate, biodiversity and health. The region’s governments and civil society must do everything in their power to maintain them unaltered”, explains Padú Franco. Padú adds that the same responsibility that must be had with the Amazon rainforest should include, for the case of Colombia, the Biogeographic Chocó and other important forest remnants in good condition located in the Andes and the Caribbean (more details in the following link). This means that they are still free of alterations caused by infrastructure construction, selective logging, inadequate forest management and advance of agriculture or the presence of invasive or non-native species and maintain connectivity at ecologically relevant scales. They also maintain high levels of biodiversity, render high quality ecosystem services and are more resistant to climate change. Researchers say that, as more of these natural landscapes exist, humanity will have better tools to capture and store carbon, halt the impacts of climate change, sustain a biological diversity, have drinking water for more people, guarantee the rights of indigenous, afro and peasant communities and prevent future pandemics. Realistic goals and fixed deadlines Consequently, one of the objectives of the study is to advise decision-makers of the importance of an identification of the areas that should be protected taking into account if they could face greater risks of being impacted. “Preventing degradation or the loss of integrity is a better strategy than trying to restore forests after they suffer damage, because restoration is more expensive, has a risk of failure and the probability of a full recovery of the benefits is low”, states the document literally. In general, besides logging, fires and trafficking of species are causes that have reduced the integrity of the forest coverage, although experts admit that the level of impacts in the remaining forests of the Earth could be even worse than what the findings suggest. They also explain that the overexploitation of animals and plants of high socioeconomic value can vary considerably in different countries and regions, due to complex social, cultural, economic and governance factors, for instance, that are difficult to model spatially. These conclusions arise precisely when the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity has demanded concrete actions to halt ecological devastation and revert environmental degradation, the massive extinction of species and the destruction of ecosystems that sustain life. It is urgent, therefore, to define how measures to prevent the loss of biodiversity and guide the world on the path towards a sustainable development, are going to be planned and implemented. “Consequently, Governments have to adopt policies and strategies to retain and restore the ecological integrity of some of their main ecosystems, ensuring at the same time economically viable, socially equitable and politically acceptable solutions in complex and very diverse local contexts”, concludes the publication. “We urgently need measurable, achievable and realistic objectives, with fixed deadlines, to maintain and restore forest integrity, with goals directly incorporated to the highest level objectives in biological diversity, climate, land degradation and sustainable development”, adds the report. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15782 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/15784/THIS-IS-HOW-WE-RESTORE-A-PARAMO.aspx#Comments 0 https://colombia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5766&ModuleID=11330&ArticleID=15784 https://colombia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=15784&PortalID=113&TabID=5766 https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/Admin-plus/News-Manager/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/15784/THIS-IS-HOW-WE-RESTORE-A-PARAMO.aspx The Humboldt Institute, the Regional Environmental Authority of Risaralda (Carder), WCS and National Natural Parks of Colombia, with the support of the European Union, edited a document that embraces the main conclusions of a rehabilitation process of a section of Los Nevados National Park; it can now be replicated in any region of the country. Colombia has half of the existing páramos of the world that provide drinking water for 70 percent of its population. The country, with 36 páramo complexes, is a privileged territory. These natural sceneries, located between the Andean forest and the glaciers, take advantage of rain and fog to supply huge water flows, such as the Magdalena, Cauca, Meta or Patía. What they represent for the nation is invaluable and their care should, therefore, be a priority. The document Restauración de Páramos. Una experiencia en la Cordillera Central de  Colombia (Páramo Restoration. An experience in the Central Andes Range of Colombia) was born as a contribution to this need to preserve them. It describes the restoration work of 258 hectares of this ecosystem in the Los Nevados National Natural Park, near the Laguna del Mosquito (in the rural settlement of El Bosque), a historically touristic site connected with the Laguna del Otún. This document was part of the Project Páramos: Biodiversidad y Recursos Hídricos en los Andes del Norte (Páramos: Biodiversity and Hydric Resources in the Northern Andes) (known as Project Páramos), initiative with the participation of the Regional Environmental Authority of Risaralda (Carder), the Humboldt Institute, WCS Colombia and National Natural Parks of Colombia and financed by the European Union.   These five organizations endorsed and contributed to the publication of the document, described by Germán Forero-Medina, Science Director of WCS Colombia “as a document that will hopefully be considered an additional contribution to the earnest call of different local, regional and national institutions for the conservation of the Andean páramos”. This, among other things, because it includes recommendations of planting methods and special species and a group of indicators for the success evaluation of a rehabilitation process. Invasive species and stockbreeding The manual is addressed to and written for all types of public. A biologist or an ecologist can understand it, but its language is not incomprehensible for someone without environmental formation. “We decided to include guidelines of what should be done during a restoration process. Consequently, it is useful as a model or an example to recover páramos in other regions when threats are stockbreeding and invasive species”, explains Lina Caro, Protected Areas Management Coordinator at WCS-Colombia. She says that the objective of the document is its usefulness as an academic work of reference for Mayors’ Offices and other public institutions. It has no more than 100 pages and includes large-scale photographs that mainly show the typical vegetation of this strategic ecosystem with the main function of retaining, capturing, storing and supplying drinking water. It was divided into four chapters, but perhaps the two most sensitive ones are those including the details of the restoration design, but without forgetting the context in which it is developed. Committed families Water for more than two million people living in Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda and Tolima comes from Los Nevados National Park. Additionally, this same hydric resource contributes to the agricultural development of coffee, rice and cotton plantations in the Central Andes Range of Colombia.   It must be kept in mind that when this protected area was created, some 60 families lived there. After the declaration, most of them sold their farms. There are now 14 families with titles over 2000 hectares, mostly lands affected by an inadequate livestock management; cattle have moved out of this area and now occupy 7000 hectares, even land bought in recent years by government institutions, in an effort to isolate it from these pressures. In this connection, the document describes how agreements were reached with the inhabitants, who accepted that part of the land they were using should not be destined for the breeding of cattle or other animals, an activity rooted in ‘El Mosquito’ and its surroundings for the last 40 years that has favored the establishment of exotic or invasive species. Intentional fires are another pressure; in 2006 they originated a huge fire that affected 2400 hectares of páramo. The text clearly indicates that in order to give life to and rehabilitate an affected area, it is necessary to define fences and boundaries and agree on isolations to avoid the presence of animals in the chosen areas. The document also mentions a space of passive regeneration, where nature will act and, in time, make the necessary repairs Another 258 hectare zone was intervened with the planting of 9000 native plants, with natural distribution in the altitudinal range of the area of work, many of them prolific, with good recovery and regeneration capacity and with potential to colonize open or intervened spaces, among other characteristics. Some were reproduced in nurseries before being planted, but others were planted directly in the chosen spot. The document has images and a description of each plant, including Espeletia hartwegiana, Lupinus tolimensis, Baccharis tricuneata, Hypericum laricifolium, Calamagrostris effusa, Senecio rhizocephalus, Calamagrostis recta, Diplostephium schultzii, Hypericum juniperinum, Polylepis sericea and Diplostephium floribundum. The document concludes with some results of the work done, even though the process is not yet finalized. A strict monitoring operation now follows, as there are already indications of a reduction of invasive plants and the stockbreeding activity that affected the area and a much more stable commitment of the communities with environmental recovery. The medium-term objective is for the intervened sector to look very similar to its original appearance. And to be the guide, as an indisputable example, to be replicated, partially or totally, in any region of the country. zrios@wcs.org Wed, 03 Feb 2021 13:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:15784