Securing the Southern Boundary of Chiribiquete National Park and Managing Key Threats to the Area

Timeframe:  2020 - 2024
Country/Region: Colombia
Partner: Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS)

Chiribiquete National Park, the largest protected area in Colombia, is the confluence point of four biogeographical provinces: Orinoquia, Guyana, Amazonia, and North Andes. A particularly significant value of the park is its high degree of naturalness which makes it one of the most important wilderness areas in the world. The park has been expanded twice in less than 5 years, which poses a great challenge for the national protected area authority Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (PNNC) to secure such a large area. Moreover, this expansion has brought the threats such as illegal logging, alluvial gold mining and narcotrafficking closer to the park boundaries.

The southern sector of Chiribiquete is a huge territory with many opportunities for biodiversity conservation and that also provides livelihoods for inhabitants in the surrounding area. On the downside, the vastness and remoteness of the area makes it very difficult and time consuming to get around, hampering effective communication and coordination and weakening the government presence in this sector.

Thus, our partner for this project, FZS aims to protect the unique landscape of Chiribiquete and its outstanding fauna and flora through the implementation of a monitoring programme and vigilance and control strategy, as well as improving infrastructure at critical points in the southern sector. In addition, research on biodiversity will be conducted for monitoring the status, threats and pressures in the southern sector.