Protected areas and peace in Colombia

Conflicts over land use and ownership are endangering numerous ecosystems in Colombia – and minimising or resolving/transforming such conflicts contributes not only to peace, but also to the protection of biodiversity. The project is contributing to reducing or resolving/transforming land use and ownership conflicts, thus improving the management of protected areas. It is identifying the causes of deforestation, introducing a system for monitoring deforestation, strengthening plans for sustainable land use, improving capacities for conflict resolution and developing approaches to solutions. The project also strengthens the institutional framework for protected areas by means of dialogue with farmers, and mobilises public and private funds which are then used to conserve biodiversity – and the living conditions of smallholders and landless persons are being improved, making yet another important contribution to the peacekeeping processes. Since 2024 results of the project's first phase are being scaled up at the international, national, and regional levels.

Project data

Countries: Colombia
IKI funding: 6,016,810.00 €
Duration: 07/2019 till 03/2026
Status: open
Implementing organisation: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Germany
Political Partner: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente) - Colombia

Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia
Implementing Partner: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Colombia

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State of implementation/results

Information generation and monitoring:
- To date, the community monitoring capacities of the participating groups have been strengthened in the Chiribiquete, Picachos, Macarena and Alto Fragua – Indi Wasi (AFIW) National Natural Parks. Six monitoring systems have been designed, one for each participating protected area. Four protected areas have been equipped with monitoring equipment and local monitoring reports are being prepared with community participation. In addition, satellite images of 98 properties (10,469.36 hectares) were analysed and six infographics with information on the causes and effects of deforestation in the six protected areas of the project were produced. Finally, information is being compiled and consolidated for the preparation of monitoring reports with the participation of local monitors in the four aforementioned protected areas.
- Between March and June of 2023, the traveling photographic exhibition of community monitoring "Caretakers of the territory: the footprints of the community in the forest" was carried out in different villages of the protected areas of AFIW and Chiribiquete, as well as in the city of Bogota. A participatory analysis of the results of the design and implementation process of the participatory monitoring systems of the implementations developed in AFIW, Chiribiquete, and Picachos was carried out. As the main results, the stakeholders highlighted the permanent process of knowledge dialogue, as well as the empathy and respect existing between the farming families, local partners, and institutions; this exercise allowed a greater appropriation of knowledge during the training. Likewise, the committed participation of officials and contractors at the three levels of the protected area (central, regional and local) allowed for the articulation between the different information systems.
Capacity building, dialogues and conservation agreements:
- Two training tours on meliponiculture (www.campocolombia.com/…) were conducted. In turn, 53 conservation agreements have been strengthened with the participating families. Training processes continue in Picachos, AFIW, Macarena, Chiribiquete, and Sumapaz with the participation of local communities, environmental authority officials and representatives of grassroots organizations. Three collective agreements were signed with cocoa and coffee producer associations in AFIW and Macarena. Until March 2024, these collective agreements involve a total of 80 families from the associations, as well as National Natural Parks, WWF Colombia, and other environmental authorities and entities in the territories, committing the parties to the development of restoration and conservation actions, sustainable production without expanding the agricultural frontier, care and restoration of water sources and the development of farm-level implementations for the participating families.
- Among the main advances in the dialogue spaces is the Villavicencio Technical Roundtable, a technical reference for the inter-institutional articulation route with which the Colombian government, headed by the Ministries of the Environment, Agriculture, Interior, and National Natural Parks, is working. This space seeks to provide a comprehensive response to the agreements of Los Pozos, Alta Mira and Villavicencio, and to address the challenges involved in the implementation of the deforestation containment plan, a strategy led by the Ministry of the Environment. Additionally, in the follow-up of compliance with the collective agreements in Chiribiquete and Macarena, there is a high level of commitment on the part of the peasant organizations and families involved, who have advanced soil restoration actions on their lands. In relation to the training processes, 204 peasant families from AFIW, Chiribiquete, Macarena and Sumapaz have participated in the capacity-building processes, which were structured based on didactic methodologies that recognize local knowledge and promote safe spaces for participation, exchanges of experiences (tours) and practical scenarios to apply what they have learned.
- Project visits were carried out in Sumapaz in mid-2024 to discuss the upcoming work on adaptive management together with the community. The analysis of the participatory monitoring system in Chiribiquete National Park shows that cooperation in the project strengthens the relationships between the protected area, NGOs and the community. The continuous dialogue based on knowledge sharing, empathy and respect fostered community engagement and strengthened trust, which contributed to the successful implementation of the monitoring and clarification of issues.
Sustainable livelihoods:
- 181 land-use planning exercises have been carried out to date. In addition, business skills have been strengthened in seven selected enterprises, five of which already have a market route and defined investment plans. Two of them have reached commercial agreements to export cocoa to Confiserie Dengel (confiserie-dengel.de) in Germany. Finally, the expansion process of the El Pato - Balsillas Campesino Reserve Zone in San Vicente del Caguán in Caquetá (64,640 additional hectares), together with the Municipal Association of Colonos del Pato (AMCOP) was supported.
- Until the end of 2023, deliveries of materials and inputs for the implementations agreed with the participating families and farmer organizations were completed. These were the result of the planning and accompaniment processes for 223 families from the restoration and biodiversity management approach, together with the identification, selection and strengthening of seven productive initiatives. The implementations include different types of measures according to each of the restoration approaches developed; strict restoration, rehabilitation and recovery, as well as management and promotion of sustainable use. Some of these measures correspond to i) rehabilitation plots that contribute to the active restoration, from the planting of plant material using potential species for use of non-timber natural products, forest preservation, along with complementary actions (ii) meliponiculture, (iii) organic soil management, (iv) water distribution, (v) eco-efficient stoves, (vi) sustainable production systems (cocoa, coffee, breeding of minor species, sugarcane, livestock reconversion, among others). This resulted in a total of 12,520 hectares in the planning process with technical support, in which management zoning was agreed upon for a total of 2,969 hectares in restoration with three types of approach: 1) Strict restoration of 719 hectares, 2) Ecological rehabilitation of 1,685 hectares, which incorporates biodiversity management for the generation of economic income, and 3) Recovery of 564 hectares. Additionally, 1,195 hectares of sustainable use and 8,355 hectares of preservation were agreed upon in the first stage of project implementation, with the participation of 223 families.
Sustainable financing mechanisms:
- A digital platform for measuring impact and connecting investors with conservation projects for Herencia Colombia was designed, and the Private Sector and Investor Engagement Strategy was implemented. Progress was made in the implementation of the Sustainability Strategy with public and public-private funds with the signature of the Permanence Financing Program (PFP) and the financial instrument obtained with private funds for Sumapaz National Park.
- A public-private alliance has been established in Sumapaz with the participation of two financial institutions, Scotiabank Colpatria in Colombia and BBVA. This alliance promotes the conservation of the páramo ecosystem and the preservation of local culture through the creation of a high mountain nursery and an environmental classroom. This initiative also seeks to raise awareness and find practical solutions for these strategic ecosystems of the country.
- The GCF approved the project "Herencia Colombia: maximizing the contribution of sustainable landscape management in Colombia to the achievement of climate objectives" for 43 million US$, which contributes to the direct financing of the HECO Program. In addition, the HeCo program was articulated with the environmental allocation of the Carbon Tax collection as part of the sustainability of the process. Five percent of this collection will be used to strengthen the National System of Protected Areas.
Knowledge management and Political Advocacy at International, National, Regional, and Local Levels:
- In November 2023, WWF Colombia presented the achievements and learnings of the project in the framework of the Digital Restoration Experience Forum, funded by IKI. This event brought together more than 2,000 registered participants from 130 countries, was viewed more than 10,000 times and reached more than 6 million people through social networks and communication channels, with more than 800,000 people involved.
- A 2-year extension of the project started in April 2024, the reports, tools and methods produced until then were analysed to identify relevant issues and lessons learned and initiate their dissemination and replicability for different stakeholders in different areas of dialogue, policy advocacy and/or decision making. Meetings to raise awareness for the continuation of the project and for complementary measures were held at national and local level with local, regional and national environmental authorities.
- It is important for the project that WWF participates since 2024 in the ‘Environment, Climate, Conflict and Peace’ (ECCP) community of practice, which comprises over 900 members worldwide. This promotes cooperation between authorities and integrates environmental, climate, biodiversity, conflict and peace issues into policy and practice.
- The CBD COP 16 in Cali in October 2024 offers a unique opportunity to share project results and experiences. Together with other members of the ECCP, WWF collaborates in the Peace@CBD project, which will focus on peace and conflict sensitivity at COP16 through policy advice, events and communication. WWF is planning the side event ‘Diálogo de Saberes: Paz con la Naturaleza’ (Dialogue of Knowledge: Peace with Nature), in which experiences from the project will make a significant contribution to international exchange. This event promotes discussions on the contributions of COP16 to the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) from the perspective of ‘peace with nature’. The aim is to bridge different perspectives through standardised terminology and knowledge dialogue and to develop joint solutions for the protection of biodiversity.