Natural Reserves
General Information
What is a Natural Reserve?
According to Law 99 of 1993 (articles 108, 109, 110, 111 and 116), the legal frame on this aspect is ampler and also novel as it includes the concept of conservation areas, it develops the concept of social participation in the processes of definition, acquisition, administration and management of protected areas, within the planning of territorial development and environmental regulation.
Article 109 has the following definition of Natural Reserves of the Civil Society. “A Natural Reserve of the Civil Society is the part or the whole area of an estate that conserves a sample of a natural ecosystem and is managed under sustainability principles in the use of its natural resources. Its activities and uses will be determined according to regulation with participation of non-profit environmental organizations. Note: For purposes of this article, the areas that exploit forest resources industrially are excluded, admitting only the domestic use lumber production within sustainability parameters.”
The following are some definitions of ‘Natural Reserve’ provided by our members:
- “…a space, or a private property of any size, that belongs to a natural person, family, NGO or communitarian organization, with natural ecosystems (forests, wetlands, savannahs, among others) that need a special management for their recovery, conservation and/or sustainable use, or where practices of sustainable production are developed which promote biodiversity, or where collections of wild species, cultivated or domestic germplasm are deposited.”
- “It is a small part of Resnatur, a thread, a star of the constellation, an organizing base that processes its autonomy, or a cultural and territorial group, biophysically separated, but connected to others who organize their lives with a vision of protection, suitable biodiversity management, cooperation and solidarity.”
- “It is a source of knowledge, a refuge, a home and a space to exchange knowledge and action capacity with all others with similar interest. It is also a a opportunity to unify opinions of subjects that concern us and that we can get to influence.”
- “It is a Life Option, in which the people and families tied to the process, generate spaces and times for “well living”, facilitating the satisfaction of their fundamental needs, such as subsistence, participation, leisure, protection, understanding, identity, creativity, affection, worth, freedom.”
- “The Natural Reserve is contained the Network and the Network is contained in the Reserve, one is a reflection of the other, since the whole is equal to the part and the part is equal to the whole. In other words, a Natural Reserve is a fraction of the Network that the reflects its totality”
- “We seek to be happy with our particular way of BEING and DOING in harmony with what we have in the RESERVE”.
Coverage
At present there are 230 Associates distributed in 23 Departments of the country, 10 NGOs; 34 Local Heirs Groups and 3 Honorary Associates. This means that there is more than 61.000 hectares of protected land.
General aspects of the Natural Reserves
The origin of the income at Reserves is as diverse as the Reserves themselves. Nonetheless a high percentage, 22% of the Reserves, depends on the contributions of the owners for their operation. 9% generate income providing environmental services. It has not been possible to establish the type of service that generates this income.
Productive systems
Near 40% of the total area in the Reserves it is being used for farming purposes. In general, these production systems are very diverse systems in terms of species and products, and include a variety of programs, production techniques and appropriate technologies use. The more common power sources are firewood, electricity and gas. The most important products are smaller fruits, vegetables, red pepper, small animal species, tubercles and milk.
Environmental goods and services
Resnatur has identified 14 types of environmental goods and services in the Reserves that are either directly or indirectly used by the owner, or externally through the community and the region.
Water spring, creeks and rivers: 75 Reserves report this service with 68 water springs that supply 61 estates, 3 local aqueducts and 300 swimming pools. In addition, the Reserves protect 18 creeks that supply 16 estates, 2 local and one municipal aqueduct, on top of the demands of the farming production. Some of the creeks end up in great rivers that supply aqueducts of bigger urban areas (as the city of Armenia), or dams for energy production as in the Anchicayá project, among others.
Genetic banks: the existing forest fragments in 75 Reserves protect fauna and flora species that can be considered a genetic bank from which it is possible to extract material for recovery programs and restoration of other border of the Reserves. There re also species of high value in the market, like valuable wood or fauna species with economic potential and research importance. Some Reserves also protect important genetic resources for farming production such as medicinal plants (some even considered as magical), fruit trees, vegetables, forage, ornamentals, among others
Environmental recovery and regreening: 55 Reserves report recovery or regreening processes through different strategies such as the construction of biological corridors. A biological corridor is a process of fragment connection through the protection of 5 to 10 meters wide alleys, reforestations and enrichments. This includes the protection of water springs, wetlands, fragments of secondary forests, regeneration of isolated patches and liberation of area within ecosystems or farming production areas. In some cases the area liberation reaches 100 % of the estate. This is the case of the following Reserves: Planada, Ñambà River, Acaime, Torremolinos Refuge, among others.
Environmental education: 48 Reserves offer this service, including trails, guided group tours or permanent informal educational programs. The beneficiaries are many, and that includes students in all educational levels, professors, governmental and non governmental employees and also foreigners. Some Reserves have created their group of Heirs of the Planet linked to the Resnatur’s national program. Groups of eco-guides, researchers and monitors support this work. In most cases the educational process occurs in the constructed footpaths for environmental interpretation. Some of the Reserves have their own herbal, plant and insect collections. The Reserves create printed educative material in form of booklets and didactic games. These educational processes have induced change in the communities such as the decrease of illegal hunting, improved use of the natural resources in rural and urban communities, recycling, among others.
Ecotourism: there are 25 Reserves offer this service with a variety of options. Some Reserves have infrastructure to lodge groups of up to 40 people. The Reserves have invested time and money in infrastructure for lodgings, waste management, the improvement of trails and advertising.
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