Few countries boast such striking physical variety as Colombia. Its broken, rugged topography and its location near the equator create an extraordinary diversity of
climates, vegetation, crops, and of course, species.
Colombia's land area comprises less than one percent of the earth's surface, but it contains approximately 10% of the world's terrestrial plant and animal species.
There are more species of birds and orchids in Colombia than in any other country in the world, and more than one-third of all neotropical primates (including the
endangered cotton-top tamarin) are native to the country. The Colombian Andes split into three ranges, creating a wide variety of habitat types, including high
Andean plateaus, montane cloud forest, lowland tropical rainforest, coastal mangroves, and 15,000 kilometers of rivers. Each of these regions claims a high level of
endemic species. Preserving these endemic species and saving Colombia's biodiversity means preserving representatives of all of its ecosystems.