Conservacolombia: A Stimulus Package for Subnational Protected Area Establishment in Colombia

The project was executed by the Fundación Palmarito and funded by the Fondo Acción. The project's main objective was to support the registration of six protected areas in the Vichada department as Reservas Naturales de la Sociedad Civil (RNSC). The project's activities were carried out between August 2013 and December 2014. The first activity was the collection of documents required by Parques Nacionales for the registration of the RNSC. The documents included a request for registration, a map of the property's location, a brief descriptive report on the property's ecosystem and sustainability, and a copy of the property's title deed. The documents were submitted to Parques Nacionales in Villavicencio, which is the territorial office responsible for the Orinoquia region. The project also involved the characterization of the six protected areas, which included the study of their flora, fauna, and geology. The characterization was carried out by a team of experts who visited the properties and collected data on the ecosystems and biodiversity of each area. The characterization was an essential step in the registration process, as it provided the necessary information for the development of management plans for each property. The project also involved the elaboration of management plans for each of the six protected areas. The management plans were developed in collaboration with the property owners and took into account their conservation, productive, and social goals. The plans were developed using a methodology that was based on the "Guía para la Elaboración de Planes de Manejo de Reservas Naturales de la Sociedad Civil" published by Parques Nacionales and other organizations. The project's geographic characterization was carried out in four phases, two of which were fieldwork and two of which were office-based. The first zonification of the properties was carried out when the documentation required by Parques Nacionales was collected for the registration of the properties as RNSC. As a result, a map was created where the property owners indicated the zones of conservation, intensive use, and production (agrosystems) of their reserves. The project's results included the submission of the registration requests for the six protected areas to Parques Nacionales, the characterization of the properties, and the development of management plans for each area. The project's success was due to the collaboration between the Fundación Palmarito, the property owners, and Parques Nacionales, which ensured that the project's objectives were met and that the protected areas were registered as RNSC.