ABSTRACT

The purpose of this investigation is to find the best alternatives for the conservation of priority areas and the efficacy of such alternatives in Colombia. The reason for it is that there are in the country about 114 million hectares, only the 8% of which are legally protected. Some of them are located in regions of high human intervention. The first phase of the project has been completed. During this phase, the contacts to obtain the information were carried out, and also, the homogenization of it is in ArcInfo. The second phase is under way, in which the identification of such areas outside national parks, the analysis of real conservation possibilities, the review of bibliography and the processing of information in the Grid module of ArcInfo are being performed. The results of this research will be the essential tool that will allow the National Government to diagnose the strategies for the National Protected Areas System, and to adjust it according to the weaknesses identified.

INTRODUCTION

The biological diversity is the variation in life forms, expressed in the genetic diversity of communities, species, ecosystems and landscapes. Colombia represents 0.7% of the world continental surface, with about 114 million hectares, and holds 10% of the world biodiversity, which makes it a megadiverse country. According to Government statistics, protected areas represent 8% of the national territoriy. Although Colombia is a rich country in natural and cultural diversity, it has based its development on the inadequate exploitation of its resources, reducing more than 50% of its wild forest cover, at a rate of 150.000 to 300.000 hectares a year. Forty-five per cent of the land in the country inadequate purposes. Of this percentage, 8,5% such percentage shows severe erosion. Because of all this, Colombia is internationally considered as a "Hot Spot", i.e., a country with a double situation: high offer of biodiversity and high rates of destruction of such biodiversity¹.

The Indigenous territories occupy 23.2% of the national territory, and some of them are located within the limits of natural national parks. Most of the protected areas in the country are widely separated from one another, among other reasons because they were established without applying rigorous scientific rules. The Andean zone is the most affected one since it has high human intervention. Nevertheless, in such region we find areas of Andean and sub-Andean forest, high barren plateaus and snow-covered mountains, which could be connected by means of ecological corridors or passages in order to make more effective the conservation in-situ, and the protection of species and ecosystems. The creation of such ecological corridors may widen the genetic representation of species and ecosystems in the country.

The importance of this research for the national protected areas system is to increase the number of hectares for conservation of the natural and cultural patrimony, based on sustainable human development. This investigation also intends to benefit the participation of the civil society in the handling of these areas.

The goal of this research is to collect the most updated and best-quality information that allows a general and particular analysis of the conservation needs. The results will also allow optimizing the planning on the use, handling and control of the ecosystems, outlining restoration alternatives for the degraded areas and forests patches. In addition, an information system that serves as a dynamic basis for consultation and decision making will be designed.

METHODOLOGY

The process started in August 1997, taking as a basis the basic units for conservation, developed by the WWF, called ecoregions, these are relatively large terrestrial and aquatic areas that contain a group of natural communities, that share most of their species, dynamics and environmental conditions.. For the execution of this project two phases were planned; the first one has been completed, and the second is under way.

PHASE I

1. Obtaining of Information

In our country, not all institutions in charge of producing information are willing to share it, which makes access difficult. Therefore the institutional work carried out by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute (IAvH), in order to get information very has complex. Many agreements were made in order to obtain maps and databases. Some actions are currently carried out in order to get the missing information.

2. Homologation of the Information

This technical part is the most costly or time-consuming one. The databases and the maps are not in the same projection, due to differences concerning the time and the source. The information was edited and re-projected to Transverse (Datum Bogota Observatory) and to Geographic, using ArcInfo and for layout printing to use ArcView 3.0a.

3. Workshop 1

People working on different fields discussed (biologists, forest engineers, agronomists, experts in Geographic Information System - GIS, among others) for the discussion and analysis of all the information collected. They also began a process for the evaluation of the National Protected Areas System (SINAP abbreviation in Spanish) is in the process of evaluation in order to propose technical and political modifications.

PHASE II (in execution)

1. Analysis

It will be carried out by means of the Grid Module of ArcInfo, through which values are assigned to the different variables discussed in Workshop 1. The objective is to propose the feasible biological corridors or passages and to define the priority areas for conservation and recovery, according to the SINAP. This all, with the information analyzed and the criteria defined by the WWF and the IAvH work team, taking into account aspects like the country’s infrastructure, its socio-economic reality, the countryside conflicts and land tenure.

2. Workshop 2

Discussion of results derived from the former analysis, and its feasibility.

3. Publication

The results of this research will be published and spread by means of an information system, which serves as a dynamic basis for consultation and decision taking, with regard to the protected areas system in Colombia. The results will be the technical proposal for the Government to adjust and improve the SINAP.

4. Pilot Trials

5. Pilot trials will be carried out for the application of this research in the Orinoquia, geographical valley of Cauca River and the mountain forests and high barren plateaus in the Andean region.

RESULTS

The first phase achieved the gathering and unification of the information. In this phase, good-quality and updated information was obtained with their respective databases. In addition, alternatives were proposed for carrying out the analysis of SINAP, from a biological point of view.

Ecoregions

Vegetation 1993

Protected Areas

Biogeographic Provinces

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

WWF's mission is to conserve nature and ecological processes by: Preserving genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable now and in the longer term, for the benefit of all life on Earth. And promoting actions to reduce to a minimum pollution and the wasteful exploitation and consumption of resources and energy. WWF�s office in Colombia established different work agreements to widen conservation activities in collaboration with governmental and non-governmental institutions. The use and creation of GIS databases has been important in the sense of enabling us to evaluate end analyze spatial data and allowing us to organize and prioritize activities after a better decision-marking process. A team of three persons, a forest officer, and two assistants interns students of Agronomy and Biology, constitutes our GIS Lab. The objectives are to obtain, update, edit and generate information of data bases related with the projects that WWF supports and activities developed with partners. http://www.panda.org

The IAvH promotes, coordinate and contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the bio-diversity in Colombia. In order to do so the Institute carries out six (6) strategic programs as follows: Inventories of Bio-diversity, Biology of Conservation, Use and Valuation, Policy and Legislation, Communication and Information, and Training. http://www.humboldt.com.co

REFERENCE

1. Strategies for the consolidation of a national protected areas system in the country, within the context of sustainable human development. Ministry of Environment – UEASPNN, Planning National Department – Unit of Environmental Policy. Santaf� de Bogot�. 1998. 41p.

AUTHORS INFORMATION

Mauricio Castro Schmitz – Forestry & GIS Coordinator. World Wildlife Fund Inc
Carrera 10 No.1-28 San Antonio
Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca - Colombia, South America
Telephone: 57 (9)2 8881517
Fax number: 57 (9)2 8881521
E-mail: mauricio@wwf.org.co

Olga Lucia Hernandez M. – Planning & GIS Assistant. World Wildlife Fund Inc
Carrera 10 No.1-28 San Antonio
Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca - Colombia, South America
Telephone: 57 (9)2 8881517
Fax number: 57 (9)2 8881521
E-mail: olgalu@wwf.org.co

German Andrade P. – Biology of Conservation Coordinator – Alexander von Humboldt Institute
Claustro de San Agustin
Villa de Leyva, Boyaca – Colombia, South America
Telephone: 57 (9)87 320791
Fax number: 57 (9)87 320792
E-mail: gandrade@openway.com.co