Colombia Advances in the Protection Of Its National Natural Parks Amid Ongoing Threats

• Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos warns of the urgent need to achieve zero deforestation in National Natural Parks by 2030.
• The lack of funding and ecological connectivity could expose to risk protected biodiversity.
• Said Catalina Gutierrez, Country Director of WCS Colombia: "The PNCV report reaffirms that Colombia’s National Natural Parks are strongholds of biodiversity and essential for tackling the climate crisis and achieving peace with nature. However, it also highlights that threats such as deforestation and other illegal activities continue to degrade the health of these parks, and that a significant increase in funding is crucial to ensure their effectiveness in conservation."

Newswise — CALI, COLOMBIA — October 22, 2024 — The effective management of Colombia’s National Natural Parks, with the participation of communities, the private sector, and society at large, is essential to ensuring peace with nature. This was the main recommendation of the 2024 report presented by the civil society initiative Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos (PNCV) today in Cali.

The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), which discusses actions to halt and reverse the global loss of biodiversity, provided a platform for Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos and its nine allies to call for the National Natural Parks to remain pillars of conservation and sustainable development.

“The role of National Natural Parks in meeting biodiversity goals is key to addressing global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and building lasting peace in our territories,” said Omar Franco Torres, Director of Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos.

Although Colombia currently protects 37.63% of its marine areas and 31% of its terrestrial areas under various conservation categories, including the 61 National Natural Parks (23 terrestrial and 38 marine), these territories continue to face threats from illegal activities such as deforestation, mining, and illicit crop cultivation.

Over the past decade (2013-2023), 125,745 hectares have been deforested in National Natural Parks. The most affected parks include Tinigua (42,478 ha), Sierra de La Macarena (25,736 ha), Paramillo (10,505 ha), Serranía de Chiribiquete (9,610 ha), and La Paya (8,759 ha). According to PNCV, the goal by 2030 should be zero deforestation in Colombia’s National Natural Parks.

Preventing species extinction should also be a priority in Colombia. According to the report, National Natural Parks protect 32% of the country’s biodiversity, with the most species registered in the Serranía de Chiribiquete (Amazon) and Tayrona (Caribbean) parks. However, the introduction of exotic species—either intentionally or accidentally—has also been identified in these parks, affecting terrestrial, marine, and coastal ecosystems. A total of 342 exotic species have been recorded, nine of which have already become invasive, such as Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Yellow Mojarra (Caquetaia kraussii).

The 2024 PNCV Report also underscores the crucial role of National Natural Parks in mitigating climate change, particularly through carbon sequestration in key ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrasses, which act as blue carbon sinks, essential for regulating the global climate. However, the lack of ecological connectivity between parks limits species migration and their ability to adapt to climate change. Only 54% of protected areas in Colombia have effective ecological connectivity.

“It is estimated that connectivity must be increased by at least 25% to ensure long-term conservation. Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs), which cover 4% of Colombia’s territory, have great potential to enhance this connectivity.”

According to the report, one of the main challenges faced by Colombia’s National Natural Parks Agency (PNNC) is finding mechanisms to close the financial gap for biodiversity management. Currently, the financial resources available for effective park management are insufficient.

“The budget for park management stands at $1.15 per hectare, far below the required $5 to $8 per hectare. Given the importance of nature’s contributions in park areas and their impact on national economic development, it is necessary to increase financial mobilization by between $205 million and $373 million.”

In addition to strengthening financial management, it is vital to maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to people. The report emphasizes the need to promote strategic partnerships with communities, NGOs, educational institutions, universities, and research groups to advance sustainable options that benefit communities adjacent to protected areas and help achieve the PNNC’s mission objectives.

Harmonizing biodiversity protection in National Natural Parks with rural activity is another challenge to achieving effective park management. To this end, the country must see the growing demand for agricultural productivity as an opportunity to involve “the urgent need to conserve natural ecosystems, highlighting the importance of integrating biodiversity into rural development policies, assessing the impact of climate change on food systems, and addressing the vulnerability of rural communities while innovating adaptation systems.”

The 2024 PNCV report was developed with input from 39 experts from 13 public and private organizations, including Fundación Natura, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, WCS Colombia, WWF Colombia, PNCV, the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), the José Benito Vives de Andréis Institute of Marine and Coastal Research (INVEMAR), Corporación Autónoma Regional de Risaralda (CARDER), PNNC, the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, the Biodiversity Information System of Colombia, Universidad Externado de Colombia, the Sustainable Development Goals Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (CODS), the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (FCDS), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

About Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos

Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos is a coalition of nine civil society organizations that recognize the strategic value of Colombia’s biodiversity and protected areas as its main conservation mechanism: Fundación Santo Domingo, Fundación Corona, Fundación Natura, Alisos, WWF Colombia, WCS Colombia, Dejusticia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and Universidad de los Andes.

Founded in 2018 as an initiative of Fundación Santo Domingo and Universidad de los Andes, Parques Nacionales Cómo Vamos was later joined by seven additional organizations, including the Colombian Network of How Are We Doing Cities.

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