The Grupo Argos Foundation, ally of Cinaruco, the new National District of Integrated Management

Business | August 8, 2018

Cinaruco, an area located to the east of the department of Arauca, in the jurisdiction of the municipalities of Arauca and Cravo Norte, will be from now on a new protected area in Colombia of the National Integrated Management District (DNMI) category, the result of the Alliance leadership for the conservation of biodiversity, territory and culture, formed by National Natural Parks of Colombia, Grupo Argos, through its Foundation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Mario Santo Domingo Foundation.

This new protected area reaches 332 thousand hectares and is home to great Orinoquia biodiversity, counting more than 68 species of mammals, 178 of birds, 176 of fish, 670 of plants and 74 of reptiles. Additionally, its wetlands are strategic in the water and climate regulation of this region.

Grupo Argos is fully committed to this process that seeks to conserve more than two million hectares of strategic ecosystems in the country and, thus, protect the biodiversity of our country.

This declaration will protect flooding ecosystems and bodies of water associated with the wind plains inherited from the Orinoquia in the bi-national basins of Colombia and Venezuela, from the Cinaruco – Capanaparo rivers. This DNMI is also declared with the objective that the peasant communities based in the area, sustainably use the diversity present there, so that they can develop their livelihoods according to the biophysical, social, economic and cultural features of the territory .

To achieve this process, it was also supported by the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, the Alexander Von Humboldt Institute and the National Hydrocarbons Agency. The management of DNMI will be an effort between entities of the environment and sustainable development sector and the agriculture and rural development sector to balance the conservation of natural spaces with the development of sustainable productive activities (National Parks, Rural Agricultural Planning Unit, National Aquaculture Authority and Fisheries, Rural Development Agency and National Land Agency, among others) Usaid, through its Natural Richness program, will also support this project.

What is an Integrated Management District?
It is a geographical space in which landscapes and ecosystems maintain their composition and function, although their structure has been modified and whose associated natural and cultural values ​​are made available to the population for their sustainable use, preservation, restoration, knowledge and enjoyment. (Decree 1076 of 2015). The DNMI allows reconciling sustainable use as a strategy for the conservation of the territory, hand in hand with local communities.

Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, and the first in biodiversity per square kilometer. The creation and expansion of protected areas contributes to the conservation of that natural heritage. In addition, these territories ensure the provision of vital ecosystem services for all Colombians. The country today has more than 30 million hectares protected, which means that more than 14% of the national territory is under some protection figure. This positions Colombia as a leader in Latin America in terms of conservation of natural resources.

What does it mean to be a protected area?
According to the definition of the union for the conservation of nature – IUCN "a protected área is a clearly defined, recognized, dedicated and managed geographical space, through legal means or other types of effective means to achieve long-term conservation of nature, its ecosystem services and its associated cultural values ​​"