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.

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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.

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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.

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Landowners in this town of Cesar are protecting the surroundings of the San Fernandera-Caracoli stream, one of the few places in the Atlantic Coast where the reptile still reproduces in a healthy fashion. With the support of WCS, they control livestock to prevent contamination, plant trees and avoid sand extraction and hunting. Dahl's toad-headed turtle, one of Colombia`s four endemic turtles, is in critical danger of extinction.

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This is one of the four species of endemic turtles in Colombia and one of the least studied. This region of Chocó, where in 2017 the creation of a protected zone was made official, would guarantee the future of this reptile, also known as ‘cabeza de trozo’, and in vulnerable condition due precisely to its reduced distribution. WCS Colombia and Turtle Survival Alliance will soon initiate a research in this region, to monitor its populations.

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In September, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute celebrates the 25th anniversary of its foundation. This organization is in charge of investigating our natural resources, to contribute with their conservation and sustainable use. We talked with its Director, Hernando García, on the challenges he faces in these times of enormous pressures on paramos, forests and other strategic ecosystems. A fourth part of a century seems like a long time, but it can also be only the beginning.

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With the images gathered, researchers will make an analysis of the occupation of ungulates or hoofed mammals, as the tapir, to adapt environmental management measures in the protected area. The camera traps will give clues on the status of this type of fauna usually hunted, for food, by the ethnic groups that live in the protected area.

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Érika Nadachovsky, of the Regional Environmental Authority of Risaralda (Carder), talks of the recuperation of 258 hectares of paramo within Los Nevados National Natural Park, degraded by livestock farming, an initiative of the project ‘Proyecto Páramos Biodiversidad y Recursos Hídricos en los Andes del Norte’, financed by the European Union. Nine thousand native plants were planted, with the aim of restoring original paramo landscapes in part of the ecosystem.

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The scientific magazine Current Biology recently published that more than half of the planet’s 360 species of continental turtles and tortoises are in danger of extinction. After 400 thousand years of sharing space with mankind, they live their worst crisis due to illegal traffic that transforms them into pets, the use of their parts for the production of supposedly miracle drugs and the destruction of their habitats, among other threats. Germán Forero-Medina, Science Director of WCS Colombia, is coauthor of this global report and explains that in Latin America it is still possible to rescue them and prevent their disappearance.

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A research led by Catalina Gutiérrez, Country Director of WCS Colombia, proved that biological corridors, generally designed and implemented for vertebrates, also contribute to the preservation of bees, especially those that require forests to survive. Corridors provide them with food and places to build their nests and help them connect between populations. The study was conducted in the Barbas-Bremen Soil Conservation District in Quindío, Colombia.

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The communities that form part of the project ‘Río Saldaña, una cuenca de vida’, are determined to protect this vital resource with the implementation of responsible practices at their farms, such as basic sanitation, management of organic waste and ecological restoration, leading to sustainable agriculture and livestock farming.

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In Choachí (Cundinamarca) Carlos Ríos, a man of peasant origin, dedicated his farm to the conservation of Atelopus lozanoi, an endemic harlequin frog that disappeared at the beginning of the century and was rediscovered in 2016. WCS joins Parques Nacionales de Colombia to support this conservation effort with monitoring, environmental education and productive projects.  

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The Colombian Plant Specialist Group, led by Cristina López, biologist of Universidad de Antioquia, is working on the most updated Red List of Colombian Plants, with the purpose of implementing conservation plans. The project is endorsed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Alexander von Humboldt Institute.

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Between Vichada and Arauca, one of the most important regions in the country for the reproduction of this species, WCS Colombia installed transmitters to a group of turtles to investigate their behavior and their movements along the Meta River.  Depending on the results, the application of more precise conservation strategies to help restrain the extinction of the reptile will be possible.

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An investigation in which WCS Colombia participated highlights wetlands as important ecosystems for the subsistence of the felid, whose populations are greatly affected because deforestation and the expansion of agriculture and stockbreeding have deteriorated its habitat.

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A team researches one of them, called Oophaga lehmanni, to reproduce it in captivity and reintroduce it to its habitat. Physically attractive due to its vivid colors, it is one of the most trafficked species.

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In a 120 hectare terrain, WCS Colombia, in cooperation with Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) y Rainforest Trust, will stimulate the healthy conservation and reproduction of the reptile, whose wild populations are isolated due to the deterioration of the dry forest, its main habitat.  The species Mesoclemmys dahli, as it is scientifically known, only lives in the Colombian Caribbean (endemic)

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This site, home to forests, birds, amphibians and mammals and source of water for several aqueducts in Salamina (Caldas), faces deforestation and agricultural pressure. WCS Colombia included it as a priority area during the identification of the Main Ecological Structure of the Northern Subregion of this department and as part of a contract with the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Caldas (Corpocaldas).

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WCS Colombia shares with you the new edition of the informative boulletin "En Terreno". 

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WCS Colombia shares the new edition of its bulletin En Terreno.

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WCS Colombia shares the new edition of its newsletter En Terreno.

It includes an article about the first collectivization of the project “Saldaña River, a basin of life" and details of the SNAPP support for a study about the impact of climate change on land use in the Colombian Orinoco región.

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It was the third and last day scheduled for this year (and eighth overall) within the monitoring program of the Penelope perspicax, a bird species commonly called the Cauca guan. 

This study is being developed in the National Forest Reserve Yotoco, a wilderness area that has become an important shelter for several species of fauna and flora in the Cauca Valley.

On the monitoring walks, covering 18.4 km, six individuals of the Cauca guan species were observed in different areas of the forest. On average, this is fewer than on previous monitoring walks. All these data will be used in the final analysis that will result in the estimated number of guans in 2015, for the Yotoco Reserve.

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Spider monkeys and curassows brought together the people from the Magdalena Medio

One of the main objectives associated with this activity was to establish how the community living in this region recognize these species and consider them part of their environment.

In addition, the meeting also served as an exchange of knowledge between those who did the embroidery and the scientific team working with both species.

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The National Parks of Colombia authorities led the process of drafting the proposal for the declaration of a new national protected area, in this case in the Serrania de San Lucas, at a recent meeting where different organizations took part, among which institutions, foundations and partners working on this important idea.

At the meeting, held in Bogotá, each organization presented its own initiative. In addition, there was room for dialogue and exchange of experiences for the formation of agreements and planning of an integrated management of the territory.

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Los escenarios fueron las playas El Control y la Belleza en los departamentos de Arauca y Vichada, respectivamente. En ambos lugares, niños y adultos de las veredas La Virgen y la Inspección Nueva Antioquia, participaron activamente.

Este evento marcó la finalización del periodo de cuidado de playas y nidadas de tortuga Charapa, que desde enero de 2015 viene realizándose en esta zona del país.

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Actividades como la caza, la pesca, la extracción de productos del bosque y los incendios provocados, al igual que los cultivos de uso no lícito y el turismo no regulado, fueron definidos como factores externos que pueden llegar a afectar negativamente los VOC, modificando su calidad y cantidad y poniendo en riesgo su existencia.

Más información en el boletín N. 8

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De ahí que el monitoreo contribuya con la planificación, puesta en marcha y evaluación de las estrategias de manejo de esa área protegida.

Más información en el boletín No. 7

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