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.

 

Highlight project

© INVEMAR-Fundación Natura

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.

 

Where we work in Colombia

 

News from Colombia

‘It protects us from them’: In new film, Indigenous traditions persist amid loss

© Angello Faccini

“What is that smoke for?”

In a remote Amazonian village, a young boy asks his grandfather why a haze surrounds their home. “It protects us from them, from the invisible beings of the water,” his grandfather replies.

A new short film, “Lanawaru,” follows the boy as he seeks comfort in the Indigenous traditions, prayers and guidance of his grandfather, whose help is sought after a member of their community disappears.

The film, produced by Conservation International in partnership with Bezos Earth Fund, debuted at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam late last year, and will begin screening at the Cartagena International Film Festival on April 6.

Watch the trailer here:

Set in Puerto Caimán, along the Caquetá river in southeastern Colombia, the grandfather communicates with the inhabitants of the forest, including the fearsome “Grandfather Caiman” known as Lanawaru, through sacred healing and protection rituals that are core to the community and maintaining a balanced relationship with nature.

“Indigenous people of the Amazon have maintained the land for thousands of years,” said Angello Faccini Rueda, the director of the film. “They know they must maintain that sacred balance with nature — it’s what keeps the world in peace. Our goal was to capture the atmosphere of the place, rather than explain it. As the environmental crisis grows, it’s critical to highlight this relationship.”

Watch the film here.

Mary Kate McCoy is a staff writer at Conservation International. Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for email updates. Also, please consider supporting our critical work.

 

Learn more

Hear directly from Conservation International employees on the ground in Colombia, in Spanish.

 

References

  1. 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
  2. Conservation International (2021, November). Irrecoverable Carbon. Retrieved January 2025, from https://www.conservation.org/projects/irrecoverable-carbon
  3. 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