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?

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.