$Unique_ID{COW00924} $Pretitle{226} $Title{Colombia National Parks and the Environment in Colombia} $Subtitle{} $Author{Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC} $Affiliation{Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC} $Subject{amazon national parks colombia park natural basin inderena colombian environmental} $Date{1990} $Log{Table 1.*0092401.tab Table 2.*0092402.tab Table 3.*0092403.tab Table 4.*0092404.tab Table 5.*0092405.tab Table 6.*0092406.tab } Country: Colombia Book: Colombia Today Author: Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC Affiliation: Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC Date: 1990 National Parks and the Environment in Colombia Colombia has great natural wealth, exhibiting complexity in ecosystems and biological diversity including many endemic species. Its mega-diversity extends into the ethnic and cultural world as well. To preserve this valuable patrimony, the government has in the past decade vigorously implemented a strategy for protecting the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples. The vast and expanding national parks system now covers some 22 million acres (9 million hectares), or 8.5 per cent of the Colombian territory, and consists of some 42 conservation areas distributed among National Natural Parks, Flora and Fauna Sanctuaries, Special Reserves and Unique Natural Areas. INDERENA, the state environmental agency, has been recognized by the United Nations and world conservation organizations for its important contributions to the environment. Government policies demonstrate a firm commitment to the preservation of the Amazon rain-forests. Colombia is an active supporter of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and in 1989 took the extraordinary step of granting Indians in its Amazon Basin land rights to some 23,000 square miles, adding to some 46,000 square miles already in Indian hands. This land represents one-half of Colombia's Amazon Basin and is roughly the size of the State of Washington. In addition, forest reserves incorporated in the national parks system now cover approximately one-quarter of the Amazon. State Environmental Agency Legal responsibility for environmental protection in Colombia lies with the National Institute for Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment (Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales Renovables y del Ambiente - INDERENA). The agency was officially entrusted with the role in 1976, following implementation of a National Code for Environmental Protection. In 1977, it was additionally empowered with the management and administration of the National Parks System. INDERENA has undertaken highly diversified work covering reforestation and erosion control; the regulation of industrial and hazardous waste, air pollution and sewerage disposal; and wildlife conservation, including supervision of fishing grounds. The agency's educational programs are designed to gain support from the general public on matters of environmental protection. In 1989, the Director of INDERENA was cited by the United Nations for distinguished work in ecology and the environment. Several other agencies are also actively involved in environmental protection work and studies. Among these are the regional development corporations operating within the major river basins, including the Cauca Valley Regional Corporation (Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Valle Del Cauca - CVC), in the Upper Cauca River Valley; CAR in the Bogota River Basin; and CVS in the Sinu and San Jorge River Basins. It is estimated that 45 per cent of the nation's biological diversity lies within the Cauca Valley region, prompting CVC to take a particularly active role. INDERENA is also gaining the cooperation of Colombian municipalities in environmental protection. Town mayors are encouraged to embark on projects designed to protect the environment and educate citizens on how to improve the environment. Each cooperating town must establish a green council or similar ecological organization to invest at least 1 per cent of the local budget in environmental projects. Projects typically range from the management of water sources to the replanting of forests and the operation of lakes for fish breeding. "Green town" awards are granted by the United Nations and INDERENA to the most outstanding participants. National Parks System Colombia has a large system of national parks, consisting of thirty-three natural parks, six flora and wildlife sanctuaries, two special reserves and one unique natural area. Their size varies from the larger parks like La Serrania de la Macarena, with slightly over 1.5 million acres, to smaller gems like Corales del Rosario, a submarine preserve along the Caribbean coast, with 48,200 acres. Different criteria have been applied in the designation of national parks. Certain selected areas preserve original ecosystems, while others create refuges for the wildlife and flora which are an invaluable source of foodstuffs, medicine and industrial raw materials to modern man. Certain parks have also been established for reasons of history, culture, and natural beauty. INDERENA directly oversees the parks, and coordinates and assists the work of other public agencies, including the Colombian Institute of Anthropology. The Colombian Government declared six new areas part of the National Natural Parks System in 1989-90. These areas constitute one of the most valuable contributions of the past decade to the conservation and perpetuation of the natural wealth of the country, and give a new dimension to the management of natural resources in the Amazon Basin. Some of the more accessible parks have evolved as recreational centers with simple lodging and campgrounds. But most are highly inaccessible and not intended for tourism. Among the parks are: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park. This important park covers some 946,390 acres and provides a unique example of a coastal mountain range containing every biotic zone from arid seaboard to snow-covered peak within a distance of 24 miles from the Caribbean. The Sierra Nevada Mountain rises some 18,942 feet above sea level, and is the highest coastal mountain in the world. Within the park, at an altitude of some 2,953 feet above sea level, the Institute of Anthropology discovered La Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City), one of the best-preserved pre-Hispanic cities ever found. The remains include dozens of stone dwellings, pathways, drainage systems and ceremonial sites, indicative of the complexity of early Tayrona culture. Access to La Ciudad Perdida is limited. Tayrona National Park. This park, covering 37,065 acres outside of the Caribbean port of Santa Marta, includes magnificent coves, coral reefs and beaches. Within the park, the Pueblito archeological site contains ruins of a small Tayrona settlement. INDERENA has constructed environmentally-sensitive "ecohabs" as tourist accommodations in the park. Corales del Rosario National Park. Not far from the port of Cartagena, this submarine natural park preserves coral reefs with surrounding platforms as well as submarine prairies rich in mollusks and other fish. A total of 31 bird species have been observed, including the rare frigate bird. The El Rosario islands have tourist lodging available; the park is 1.5 hours from Cartagena by motor boat. Serrania de la Macarena National Park. This remote park at the southwestern fringe of the Eastern Plains is among the largest in Colombia and preserves one of the most exotic ecosystems in the world. Situated in a mountain range isolated from the main Andean Cordillera system, it has extremely rich birdlife, wildlife and flora. It is open primarily for scientific study. Colombian Amazon Policy Slightly more than a third of the continental area of Colombia lies within the Amazon basin, comprised mainly of the watersheds of five Amazon River tributaries: the Putumayo, Caqueta, Apaporis, Vaupes and Guainia Rivers. The country possesses just a short 93-mile section of the Amazon River itself. In total, Colombia's Amazon region constitutes just 5.5 per cent of the entire Amazon basin area. The balance of the territories belong to Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Keenly aware of the need to preserve the vast tropical forests of the region, Colombia joined with these South American nations in signing a Treaty of Cooperation three years ago. Colombia's policies have helped to set an example for other rainforest countries. The Government in recent years has granted the Indians of the region territorial rights to approximately 70,000 square miles, roughly the size of the State of Washington. Covered by virgin forests, the lands are to be used exclusively as a communal habitat in their original state. In addition, four large national parks were created in the Amazon in 1989. Almost a quarter of the Colombian Amazon is thus supervised by INDERENA as part of the national parks system. For Colombia, it is clear that concerted action is required for ecosystem conservation as well as to achieve a higher level of welfare for indigenous communities and the country as a whole. Ethnobotanical Research In the Amazon basin not only conservation is necessary, but also an acceleration in scientific research. Ethnobotanical studies to identify plant species and their use by Indian tribes are considered a matter of great urgency. Dr. Richard Schultes, Professor of Biology and Director Emeritus of the Harvard University Botanical Museum, has been a pioneer in this effort. Dr. Schultes first traveled to the Colombian Amazon in the 1940s, and has been awarded the Cross of Boyaca (Cruz de Boyaca), Colombia's highest honor, for his important work in this area. According to Dr. Schultes, "The Colombian part of the Amazon is, in many respects, very different from the rest of the great basin. It is a complex and varied region. It drops from 12,000 feet on the eastern slopes of the Andes to forested plains as low as 300 feet, but which are spotted with quartzitic and granite mountains, some as high as 3,000 feet." "Furthermore, all but one of Colombia's Amazonian tributaries are incapable of navigation because of rapids and waterfalls. As a result, the Colombian Amazon remains one of the vegetatively least disturbed and anthropologically one of the most traditionally intact parts of the entire basin." Wildlife of the Amazon The richest wildlife of Colombia is found in the Amazon Basin. Preserved now in Indian and national park reserves, these valuable natural resources have a better chance of survival. Guided tours of Amacayacu National Park, a tract of some 725,238 acres, can provide a view of Amazon wildlife. The area is reached by motor boat from Colombia's Amazon port of Leticia, a trip of about 2 hours. Leticia is about 75 minutes by commercial jet from Bogota, the nation's capital. Private Enterprise in Conservation Colombia's two major pulp and paper producers, headquartered in the Upper Cauca Valley near the city of Cali, provide an important example of how manufacturing enterprises can contribute to conservation efforts. PROPAL, the major producer of printing and writing papers, utilizes in its operations a cellulosic raw material extracted from sugar cane, the principal crop of the region. The fibers have been perfected through research to produce high quality papers. Production is some 110,000 tons per year. In addition, Carton de Colombia, the country's other major pulp and paper mill, has for fifteen years been backing reforestation programs in the highland region south of Cali. As a result, pines and eucalyptus forests today cover some 74,130 acres, of which 4,940 acres are commercially farmed on an annual basis. This project has reduced the company's need for Pacific coast lumber as well as for imported long fiber pulp. The pulp derived from the reforested area is used for producing kraft, cardboard and wrapping papers as well as quality printing and writing papers. Total production is some 300,000 tons per year. Both companies have cooperated with the Cauca Valley Regional Corporation (CVC) in a program to help reduce pollution on the Cauca River. Sedimentation ponds were completed four years ago, followed more recently by the construction of an effluent treatment plant. Surface aerators are in the process of being installed in order to convert the existing sedimentation ponds into aeration lakes. This will result in removal of no less than 80 per cent of both solid and organic matter from effluents starting in mid-1990. Both INDERENA and the CVC have given special awards to Carton de Colombia for its collaboration in environmental protection. Its reforestation has been cited as the major such private effort in the country. Carton de Colombia also registers one of the highest coefficients in the use of recycled paper in the world. About a third of the cellulosic fiber raw materials used in its operations is derived from waste paper. The company has more than a dozen small kraft paper and cardboard mills around the country that rely on recycled material exclusively in their operations. Colombia-Basic Data & Economic Indicators [See Table 1.: Basic Data] [See Table 2.: Industry - 1989] [See Table 3.: Population of the 15 Largest Cities (Thousands)] [See Table 4.: Exports 1989 (F.O.B) Millions of U.S. Dollars] [See Table 5.: Imports 1989 (F.O.B.) Millions of U.S. Dollars] [See Table 6.: International Reserves]