Colombia’s Chiribiquete National Park Lands Funding to Hopefully Support Conservation Efforts “in Perpetuity”

One of the largest protected sections of the Amazon will receive long-term funding of at least $1 million USD per year for the next 30 years from the German Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF), in partnership with the Frankfurt Zoological Society, to help protect the Serranía de Chiribiquete National Natural Park, a vast conservation area in the Amazon that was established in 1989.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro revealed the news in a recent announcement, highlighting the great beauty and remarkable biodiversity of Chiribiquete, which was was expanded in 2018 to cover 17,000 square miles (43,000 square kilometers) and stands as Colombia’s largest national park. At the same time as the expansion, it was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The fund, named “Chiribiquete, a landscape forever,” is described by Colombia’s National Natural Parks department as being for “at least 30 years and possible in perpetuity” and includes provisions to help strengthen the “participation of indigenous communities and local governments” while “promoting the sustainable and effective governance of the park in the long term.”

Chiribiquete, which is known for its gorgeous, towering mastiff cliffs known as tepuis situated within giant expanses of lush green jungle, was selected among several park candidates in part due to the “exceptionally preserved integrity of its ecosystems,” according to National Natural Parks.”

Susana Muhamad, minister of environment and sustainable development, called the fund a “milestone for environmental cooperation” and will allow the nation to go beyond “just declaring protected areas” and actually protecting them with “real management.”

Beyond the gorgeous natural beyond and near-unparalleled biodiversity found in a park that sits amid the coming together of the Amazon, Andes, Orinoco, and Guyana ecosystems, it is thought to contain upwards of 75,000 petroglyphs and pictographs, or art and writing drawn on rock and cliff faces by indigenous people dating back as far as 20,000 BCE, according to UNESCO.

“In the face of the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity, the conservation of protected areas is a priority,” said Esperanza Leal, director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society in Colombia.

“Having a long-term financing strategy ensures that, together with resources from the national government and other initiatives, preserving Chiribiquete forever is a possible goal. We must work together so that management decisions contribute to the strengthening of social and institutional governance, control of threats, informed decision-making and effective coordination, for the care of this territory — now and always.”

Photo: Chiribiquete National Park in Colombia. (Credit: Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia)