BOLETINEne-FebESP

This initiative is part of the Puracé – Guanacas - Coconucos páramos complex, which serves as the second source of water supply for the city. The program aims to implement Resolution 907, which allows public companies to adjust water tariffs to invest in additional environmental protection measures, thereby securing significant resources for the project's mission over a 30-year horizon. The program supports the design and management of a Payments for Environmental Services (PSA) mechanism to regulate and improve water quality in the preservation and restoration of strategic ecosystems in the upper basin of the Palacé River. Following a meeting, institutions committed to designing and implementing a work plan to implement Resolution 907, which will include a feasibility study for the project by May 2020. On February 11, the Programa Páramos y Bosques convened authorities, territorial entities, academic and research sectors, entrepreneurs, NGOs, and community organizations from Tuluá and Buga to launch a public call for proposals to design a project for the productive conversion, conservation, and restoration of Andean high-altitude forests and páramos, as well as the design and implementation of a water-based PSA scheme in the Tuluá River basin, which is crucial for the city's water supply and rural population of Guadalajara de Buga. Representatives from the Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca, the Asociación de usuarios del río Tuluá y Morales, the Empresa de Acueducto de Tuluá, the energy company CELSIA, the Cooperativa de Ganaderos del Norte y Centro del Valle, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, and Productores de la Zona Alta de Buga y Tuluá, among others, received basic information to develop project proposals that will begin in August 2020. The goal is to promote the articulation of community organizations and entrepreneurs in designing the proposal under an alliance framework. A similar call was launched in November 2019 for the Amaime-Nima river basin, with a start date in April 2020. The Programa Páramos y Bosques of USAID works on the protection, conservation, restoration, and conversion of productive activities in extensive areas of the Las Hermosas páramos complex in the municipalities of Tuluá, Buga, and El Cerrito. The initiative's sustainability depends on the commitment of regional actors and natural resource users to assume responsibilities towards this objective. The program supports the development of ecotourism activities in the region, such as the "La Ruta de La Piangua" project, which aims to promote the protection and conservation of the páramos ecosystem. This project is part of the REDD+ initiative supported by USAID and involves the development of ecotourism activities in the La Plata-Bahía Málaga area, benefiting 32 families and 11 of them are part of the Eco Manglar project. The program also promotes the design and implementation of a PSA scheme to regulate and improve water quality in the region. The Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible emphasized the importance of investing in the protection and conservation of ecosystems that supply and regulate water, stating that it is more efficient than potabilizing water and building grey infrastructure. The program aims to implement Resolution 907, which allows public companies to adjust water tariffs to invest in additional environmental protection measures, thereby securing significant resources for the project's mission over a 30-year horizon.