Residents of Colombia’s Middle Magdalena and Valle del Cauca regions are part of seven Energy Communities (ECs) that are beginning to see economic and environmental benefits from solar power. They are using this renewable energy to produce and sell ice, pump drinking water from underground, improve services at ecotourism lodges, reduce electricity costs, and even support small-scale fishing.

In its fourth phase, after consolidating more than a decade of work across the Colombian departments of Santander, Antioquia, Cesar, Vichada, Arauca, and Putumayo, the Vida Silvestre Project (PVS) is expanding into Casanare, in Colombia’s Orinoco region. Through 2028, the project will focus on conserving landscape species—such as the puma and a striped catfish found in the Cusiana River—while strengthening conservation agreements, restoring forests, and working alongside local communities. By empowering residents to steward their lands, monitor wildlife, and lead conservation efforts, PVS aims to ensure that biodiversity protection is driven by the people who know these landscapes best.