Helping Colombians responsibly and sustainably care for nature
Based in the capital city of Bogotá, Conservation International-Colombia has worked for more than two decades to conserve nature and promote sustainable development for the people of Colombia.
In 1998, we established the La Pedrera Environmental Center to serve as a focus for our conservation efforts in the Amazon rainforest. With the participation of local communities, we have helped reduce deforestation in the region, promote effective recycling and waste management campaigns in La Pedrera’s urban areas, and protect the vast biological wealth of the Amazon.
Along both coasts of the country, we are helping to protect the marine areas people need to thrive. In partnership with government and coastal communities, we have worked to strengthen protections for overfished waters along Colombia’s southern coast, established a large-scale rehabilitation program for coral reefs, and conserved and restored fragile mangrove forests in the country’s north — while developing sustainable tourism and other financial mechanisms that ensure food security and prosperity for all Colombians.
1998
YEAR FOUNDED
3.3M
PEOPLE
dependent on nature in Colombia1
3.8B
METRIC TONS
of irrecoverable carbon in Colombia2
666
INVERTEBRATE SPECIES
that are endemic to Colombia3
Areas we work
Making mangroves work for Colombians
Colombia’s Caribbean coast is thick with mangroves — saltwater-loving trees that protect against storm surges and provide habitats for numerous fish species. Mangrove forests are important in the fight against climate change, storing gobs of planet-warming carbon. But mangroves in the region are under threat from expanding agriculture and logging practices.
Working with regional partners, we aim to reverse this trend by restoring some 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) of mangrove forests. The project will sell carbon offsets based on the carbon value generated by the mangroves, providing financial security for local communities, helping establish a sustainable ecotourism program and improving fishing practices in the region. Over its lifetime, this mangrove restoration project will remove approximately 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
References
- Fedele, G., Donatti, C. I., Bornacelly, I., & Hole, D. G. (2021). Nature-dependent people: Mapping human direct use of nature for basic needs across the tropics. ScienceDirect, 71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102368
- Conservation International (2021, November). Irrecoverable Carbon. Retrieved January 2025, from https://www.conservation.org/irrecoverable-carbon
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. (2024). Table 8a: Total, threatened, and EX & EW endemic species in each country [Fact sheet]. https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-statistics#Summary%20Tables