The most recent data from the Ministry of Environment indicate that there are 814 species of flora in some category of threat and 488 species of fauna. Today, when National Wildlife Day is celebrated, the call is to protect and conserve biodiversity, an issue that companies have been working on.

In Colombia 814 species are under some degree of threat. Photo: Pixabay

Biodiversity loss is one of the problems of greatest concern to mankind and Colombia is no exception. Today, when the country commemorates National Wildlife Day, it is important to know the actions that are being carried out to guarantee the survival of species.

According to the most recent information from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, there are 1.302 species in the country that are under some degree of threat. A total of 182 are critically endangered, 431 are endangered and 689 are in the vulnerable category.

The threatened species with the highest number of records, according to statistics from Colombia’s Biodiversity Information System (SiB), are the spot-flanked gallinule with a total of 1.545 data, a situation that places it in the critically endangered category; the bagre rayado, with 2.046 data, is endangered; and the guangaré otobo plant, with 4.807 data, is in a vulnerable category.

The striped catfish is one of the species in danger of extinction. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Through SiB Colombia (SiB), it has been established, with presence data, that there are a total of 51.330 species in the national territory, but it is estimated that there may be between 200.000 and 900.000.

According to data from SiB Colombia, as of December 2018, Meta with 15.854 species recorded; Antioquia with 15.199 and Valle del Cauca with 10.847, are the departments with the most species recorded.

Endemic species

According to the studies, as of December last year there were a total of 6.664 endemic species in the country: 82 species of birds, 58 of mammals, 6.157 of plants and lichens, and 367 of freshwater fish. However, SiB clarifies that there are many more to be evaluated and discovered.

The endemic species with the highest number of records in SiB Colombia are the speckled chacalaca, for which there are 13.808 records, the plant Saurauia parviflora with 4.083 records and the chestnut wood quail with 3.825 records.

But just as there are a significant number of endemic species, there are also at least 922 identified exotic species of fauna and flora. Of these, data are only available for less than half, some 403.

These are the official data, however, according to figures available through SiB Colombia, most of the country is under-sampled. At the geographic level, the Amazon, Orinoquía and Pacific regions have large information gaps despite their great natural wealth, says Dairo Escobar, coordinator of SiB Colombia.

There is also little information on marine biodiversity, despite the fact that this ecosystem represents approximately 50% of the national territory. In the marine areas of the country, only 0,19 observations per km2 are recorded, in contrast to the continental area where 5,4 observations per km2 are recorded.

Groups with higher species diversity, such as insects, invertebrates, and microorganisms, are under-represented compared to charismatic groups such as birds, mammals, and flowering plants.

Business initiatives

The spider monkey is one of the species included in Ecopetrol’s conservation projects. Photo: Pixabay

In the midst of this panorama and in the interest of helping to preserve biodiversity, many companies are developing programs in this regard. For example, Ecopetrol supports the Wildlife Project, which seeks to carry out environmental conservation actions in the Eastern Plains, Magdalena Medio, and Putumayo.

To meet this objective, the oil company is working to protect 15 wildlife species, 11 animals and four plants. Ecopetrol is the main financer of this idea, whose technical coordination is being carried out by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) with the support of the Fundación Mario Santo Domingo and Fondo Acción.

The project has implemented conservation initiatives that benefit a total of 15 vulnerable species such as the Colombian wooly monkey, pink cedar, oncilla, spider monkey, charapa turtle, blue-billed curassow, Orinoco crocodile and bagre rayado, among others.

In the second phase of the project, the “Tapir Corridor” was created, a trail that seeks to improve the tapir’s habitat, facilitating its movement and reproduction through forests and savannahs. This initiative was consolidated with the support of Ecopetrol, WCS Colombia, Fundación Orinoquia Biodiversa (FOB) and Corporación La Pedregoza.

Aníbal Fernández de Soto, the company’s Vice President of Sustainable Development, points out that they are working to conserve the biodiversity of ecosystems as part of the company’s shared and sustainable prosperity objectives.

Conserving the Jaguar

ISA does the same through the Jaguar Connection Program, which it develops to contribute to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. The initiative, which works with its technical allies, South Pole and Panthera, and rural communities, consists of implementing the carbon component in forest recovery and preservation projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in priority areas for the protection, recovery and connection of natural habitats and jaguar corridors in Latin America.

In Colombia, Conexión Jaguar supports forestry initiatives in the municipalities of Cimitarra, Santander and Tierralta, Córdoba, where more than 40 species of fauna have been sighted and recorded in camera traps. Two important findings resulted in the sighting of the cotton-top tamarin and the recording of the blue-billed curassow, both endemic and critically endangered species.

The jaguars are monitored by means of camera traps. Photo: Conexión Jaguar (ISA)

Just a few days ago, monitoring cameras captured images of two jaguars in a rural area of Simacota, Santander, where there is a lot of retaliatory hunting, one of the main reasons why the jaguar is now on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a “near threatened” species.

This finding was made within the framework of Human-Jaguar Coexistence, a complementary line of action of Conexión Jaguar, which seeks to raise awareness and educate communities about the loss of biodiversity and demonstrate that there can be a healthy coexistence between humans and jaguars.

By 2030 Conexión Jaguar, which is developing two forestry projects in Colombia and one in Peru, has set a goal of conserving 400.000 hectares in Latin America through 20 prioritized projects and the reduction of 9 million tons of CO2.

Puma concolor

Since 2016, Empresas Públicas de Medellín, has been working around the puma concolor (Puma, Mountain Lion or Lion), in the area of influence of Hidroituango, especially in rural areas between the municipalities of Ituango and Peque.

The study showed that the habitat of this animal is highly disturbed and deteriorating due to hunting, illegal mining, extensive cattle ranching, illicit crops, agriculture without adequate techniques, burning and indiscriminate logging.

The work, carried out with a team of specialists from Universidad de Antioquia, focused on verifying and establishing the presence of the puma in the area in order to define and implement protection and management measures for its conservation. In order to determine the existence of the feline, a series of “camera traps” were installed, through which an analysis of the feline could be carried out.

The jaguars are monitored by means of camera traps. Photo: Conexión Jaguar (ISA)

Just a few days ago, monitoring cameras captured images of two jaguars in a rural area of Simacota, Santander, where there is a lot of retaliatory hunting, one of the main reasons why the jaguar is now on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a “near threatened” species.

This finding was made within the framework of Human-Jaguar Coexistence, a complementary line of action of Conexión Jaguar, which seeks to raise awareness and educate communities about the loss of biodiversity and demonstrate that there can be a healthy coexistence between humans and jaguars.

By 2030 Conexión Jaguar, which is developing two forestry projects in Colombia and one in Peru, has set a goal of conserving 400.000 hectares in Latin America through 20 prioritized projects and the reduction of 9 million tons of CO2.

Puma concolor

Since 2016, Empresas Públicas de Medellín, has been working around the puma concolor (Puma, Mountain Lion or Lion), in the area of influence of Hidroituango, especially in rural areas between the municipalities of Ituango and Peque.

The study showed that the habitat of this animal is highly disturbed and deteriorating due to hunting, illegal mining, extensive cattle ranching, illicit crops, agriculture without adequate techniques, burning and indiscriminate logging.

The work, carried out with a team of specialists from Universidad de Antioquia, focused on verifying and establishing the presence of the puma in the area in order to define and implement protection and management measures for its conservation. In order to determine the existence of the feline, a series of “camera traps” were installed, through which an analysis of the feline could be carried out.