The dry tropical forest in the Caribbean region is one of the most scarce and threatened ecosystems in Colombia. In the past years, many strategies have attempted its restoration and conservation. Today, TBI Colombia is working on how to approach the threats and the proper management of this ecosystem in the local educational system.
Recent legislation in Colombia based on the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage has made the rescue of intangible cultural expressions a priority in the country. Safeguarding cultural manifestations implies an integral understanding of communities, territories and the interaction between cultural agents. TBI Colombia’s experience with local communities has been key in the implementation of this policy with the Ministry of Culture.
Public policies generated from the perspective of institutions tend to be presented to citizens as formal frameworks making the appropriation of the same difficult in a diverse country like Colombia. The comprehension and understanding of a public policy like the Intangible Cultural Heritage implies the development of participative dialogue processes to explore the social, cultural, organizational and economic situation of the different regions.
The supply and demand of food in indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon has become an important topic due to increasing rates of malnutrition, diet simplification and low local production. Tropenbos International Colombia is currently developing a strategy to support the recovery of the agrobiodiversity of the Amazon region and the traditional practices related to agriculture, fishing and wild fauna management in order to contribute to the local food security governance.
The term páramos refers to a specific variety of ecosystems that are endemic to the northern Andes of South America and are only found in the high mountain regions of Ecuador, Colombia, Perú, Venezuela and Costa Rica. They are considered to be of strategic importance not only due to the diversity of flora and fauna that these ecosystems host, but also for the ecosystem services that they generate, which include carbon storage in the soils as well as water regulation services which benefit approximately 70% of the Colombian population.