Chiribiquete National Park is located in the heart of the Colombian Amazon and is one of the few places where the fauna and flora of the Guiana Shield, Orinoco savannas, and Amazon rainforest converge. This leads to incredible biodiversity in the pristine and remote rainforest with table mountains that reach up to 1,000 meters in height. The area is largely unexplored which makes it one of the most important wilderness areas in the world. Furthermore, the presence of indigenous groups still living in isolation in this area makes Chiribiquete also a cultural heritage that was recognized by UNESCO as a mixed World Heritage site.

Along the Caquetá and Putumayo River, in the surroundings of Chiribiquete, are other large protected areas with pristine forests which includes Yaigojé Apaporis, Cahuinarí, Río Puré, and Amacayacu National Parks. Together they form a large network of different habitats with, particularly high biodiversity. FZS is supporting the management, governance, and monitoring of these unique and large protected areas by improving the capacities and abilities of the national protected area authorities as well as indigenous and local communities to develop their own management strategies.

Quick Facts
  • Name of project: Protection of Chiribiquete National Park and its Greater Landscape
  • Chiribiquete National Park: 42,681 km²
  • Yaigojé Apaporis National Park: 10,560 km²
  • Cahuinarí National Park: 5,586 km²
  • Rio Puré National Park: 9,988 km²
  • Amacayacu National Park: 2,672 km²
  • Project start: 2014
  • Project leader: Esperanza Leal
The tepui mountains in Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
A Bromelia plant. © Daniel Rosengren
A Caiman seen along the river Mesay in Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
The ranger station called El Guamo guarding the entrance to the Chiribiquiete National Park in the southern sector, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
Local villagers traveling by boat along the river Caquetá near Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
A large round hole, called “El Estadio”, filled with tall rainforest among the tepui mountains in Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
The rainforest by the river Mesay near the Guamo ranger post at the border of Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. Drone photo. © Daniel Rosengren
Project briefing with the team of the turtle monitoring program in the river Caquetá in Cahuinari National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
A Brown Woolly Monkey in Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
Freshly hatched Arrau Turtles (South American River Turtle, Giant South American Turtle, Giant Amazon River Turtle, Arrau Sideneck Turtle) on their way to the water. This is the largest species of freshwater turtles in South America. FZS works with indigenous communities in protecting these animals from unauthorized egg collection and has a program where local people are involved in monitoring and guarding them, Cahuinarí National Park. © Daniel Rosengren
A park ranger talking on the radio at the El Guamo ranger station in Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. © Daniel Rosengren
A freshly hatched Arrau Turtle on its way to the water. This is the largest species of freshwater turtles in South America. © Daniel Rosengren

How we support Chiribiquete

Control and surveillance

  • Support Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (PNNC) and Indigenous authorities in the implementation and enhancement of the control and surveillance strategy by improving control posts and equipment at critical points to protect the landscape from illegal activities
  • Remote surveillance through high-resolution satellite data and overflights to detect illegal activities
  • Support the protected area management to undertake patrols in remote areas and capacity building of park guards
  • Financial support for the communities of the Cahuinarí National Park to carry out patrols in and around the Park

Ecological monitoring

  • Support participatory and community-based giant river turtle (Podocnemis expansa) monitoring and management as a model of governance for the parks along the Caquetá River (Chiribiquete, Cahuinarí, Río Puré) and their neighboring and overlapping indigenous territories with equipment, running costs as well as capacity building
  • Helping Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (PNNC) with setting up a research station in southern Chiribiquete and developing a biological monitoring strategy for Chiribiquete National Park
  • Capacity building to develop monitoring programs and implement the SMART platform
  • Support the development of monitoring strategies in the protected areas for biodiversity and cultural values together with the indigenous communities in order to facilitate conservation agreements
  • Establishment of a network of climatological stations in Chiribiquete National Park to analyze the long-term consequences of climate change

Bi-national coordination and conservation activities

  • Facilitate exchange and workshops among Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (PNNC) and the Peruvian Protected Areas Authority (SERNANP) as well as other stakeholders such as indigenous authorities and NGOs to support coordinated and joint bi-national conservation approaches and activities
  • Establish and strengthen the bi-national planning and coordination of conservation activities in the Colombian-Peruvian Putumayo border zone of Colombia and Peru

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Project Partners

Successful conservation is always the result of great teamwork. We collaborate with local communities, national authorities, and conservation organizations. Our partners make our conservation work possible.

  • Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (PNNC)
  • WWF Colombia
  • Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS)
  • Amazon Conservation Team (ACT)
  • GAIA AMAZONAS
  • Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Colombia
  • ADELPHI
  • Fundación ideas para la Paz (FIP)
  • Asociación de autoridades tradicionales indígenas PANI
  • Resguardo Nonuya de Villa Azul
  • Resguardo Curare los Ingleses
  • Resguardo Llanos del Yarí Yaguara II
  • Fondation Segré
Show partners

News from Colombia

  • 10/01/2021Project update

    “Violence against environmental leaders in the Colombian Amazon has to stop”

    10/01/2021Project update

    “Violence against environmental leaders in the Colombian Amazon has to stop”

    Colombia is now the most dangerous country for environmental defenders: In 2020, 227 people were murdered worldwide for their commitment to protecting the environment, 65 of them in Colombia. To understand the reasons behind this crisis, nine environmental organizations who work in the Colombian Amazon, including FZS, joined forces to … Read more

  • 09/30/2021Press release

    Peace on hold in the Colombian Amazon

    09/30/2021Press release

    Peace on hold in the Colombian Amazon

    New in-depth study identifies worsening spiral of environmental destruction and violence since 2016 peace treaty between government and FARC.

  • 05/05/2021Project update

    “The award is an incentive for me to continue working for this cause”

    05/05/2021Project update

    “The award is an incentive for me to continue working for this cause”

    Julia Miranda Londoño, winner of a Bruno H. Schubert 2021 award, is one of the most prestigious environmentalists in Colombia. For more than a decade she has led the protection of 59 natural areas in the country, key areas for global biodiversity.

Contact

Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt von 1858 e.V.
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