You helped create a new national park in Colombia

Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, home to an estimated 10% of all our planet’s species. Its new Serranía de Manacacías National Park will provide a critical safe haven for wildlife in a region under pressure from expanding industrial agriculture and mining.

At 68,000 hectares – about the size of Exmoor in Devon – it covers an amazing variety of habitats and is home to incredible biodiversity, including about a quarter of all Colombia’s bird species.

That’s an impressive number, considering Colombia is home to around a fifth of the world’s 10,000 known species of birds – more than any other country.

In recent years, we’ve been working closely with the government, local communities and other partners here to protect this incredible natural heritage.

Through a programme called Heritage Colombia, we’re aiming to secure the lasting protection of 30% of Colombia’s territory by 2030. As well as expanding the country’s network of protected areas, the programme is helping to lock in the political commitment and finances to ensure national parks and other conservation areas are well looked after, now and in the future.

The Serranía de Manacacías National Park is the 61st in the country – joining the likes of Chiribiquete National Natural Park, the world’s largest tropical forest protected area.

Its wide-ranging habitats include seasonal tropical savannahs, palm groves, wetlands, rivers, lagoons and gallery forests (which grow alongside rivers in otherwise dry landscapes). It includes unique ecosystems that aren’t found in any other protected area in Colombia.

Serranía de Manacacías provides a vital wildlife corridor that connects the tropical savannah of the Orinoquia with the Amazon rainforest. It’s also important in regulating water supplies, which is only going to become more important as the region adapts to climate change.

Creating the new park was the culmination of four years’ hard work by WWF and our partners with the cooperation of local communities.

BANNER IMAGE: © FILMICO / WWF-UK