Ecohabitats, in coordination with the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), Profonanpe and Patrimonio Natural, is leading a project to implement actions for the conservation of this endangered hummingbird species, with a focus on youth, environmental education and the use of ICTs.
The Ecohabitats Foundation, known in southwestern Colombia for its 17 years of work in territorial planning for biodiversity conservation and adaptation to climate variability, will develop the project "Conservation of the Zamarrito del Pinche through environmental education and ICTs", in order to implement a line of action for the conservation plan of the hummingbird Zamarrito del Pinche Eriocnemis isabellae, a Critically Endangered (CR) species endemic not only to Colombia but also to Argelia, in the Department of Cauca.
This project, supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the Regional Implementation Team (RIT) of the Tropical Andes Hotspot, formed by Profonanpe, the Natural Heritage Fund and ACEAA, will articulate the educational institutions of the municipality of Argelia - Cauca, CIDEAM Cauca and the University of Cauca in a joint governance scheme (community-environmental authority).
To this end, the actions will focus on generating teacher's guides in three thematic areas: biodiversity conservation, territorial planning for conservation and climate change with a gender equity approach, whose contents will revolve around the conservation process carried out since 2008 with the Zamarrito del Pinche and the KBA Serranía El Pinche, which is located within the Paraguas-Munchique/Montanean Forests of Southern Antioquia corridor.
These teacher's guides are composed of thematic modules and each one has didactic tools. Their design and implementation will be based on the use of ICTs through the creation of video games, videos, apps, digital maps, among others that allow students to quickly appropriate the contents.
In a complementary manner, in coordination with the University of Cauca, a virtual training course will be designed and implemented for 54 teachers and 6 members of the Santa Clara Serranía El Pinche Agro-environmental Association, focused on the same thematic axes of the teacher's guides (biodiversity conservation, territorial planning for conservation and climate change with a gender approach) so that they can deepen their knowledge of the topics, take ownership of the conservation processes, apply the teacher's guides with greater fluency, replicate the knowledge acquired with other teachers, territorial planning for conservation and climate change with a gender focus) so that they can deepen their knowledge of the topics, take ownership of the conservation processes, apply the teacher's guides more fluently, replicate the knowledge acquired with other teachers and have certification from the Universidad del Cauca for their resumes.
This project gives continuity to the implementation actions of the management plan of the KBA Serranía El Pinche and the conservation plan of the Zamarrito del Pinche, species and associated ecosystems in the department of Cauca, whose formulation and initial implementation were supported by CEPF in its Phase II implementation (2015 - 2021).
The project's focus on environmental education and ICTs is part of a strategy of the Ecohabitats Foundation-Santa Clara Agro-environmental Association alliance in the Serranía de El Pinche and the Corporación Autónoma Regional del Cauca, to give continuity to the conservation processes of the Zamarrito del Pinche under one of the most critical public order situations that have been experienced in this territory. It is hoped that more and more young people will join this process and more local organizations working in conservation that face difficult challenges in the territories will be supported.
The role of Ecohabitats in southwestern Colombia
The Ecohabitats Foundation has promoted participatory processes for the declaration of two protected areas under the category of Regional Protected Forest Reserve with peasant communities (Serranía El Pinche) and Eperara Siapidaara indigenous communities (Kokoi Euja).
In turn, it has accompanied the formulation and implementation processes of their management plans, the design and training of community capacities for the monitoring of two endangered species: the Zamarritos del Pinche hummingbird (Eriocnemis isabellae) and the golden dart frog (Phyllobates terribilis), the strengthening of environmental governance, allowing the local communities themselves to autonomously dynamize the participatory conservation processes. It has also articulated strategic actions for the implementation of management plans for the Munchique, Serranía de Los Yariguíes and Hermosas National Parks.
Ecohabitats maintains its actions in territories of high conflict due to public order, deforestation and mining extraction, given the great commitment of the local communities. An example of this is the farmers of the Santa Clara Serranía El Pinche Agro-environmental Association (Argelia-Cauca), who after more than 10 years of accompaniment, have been leading the Serranía El Pinche TICCA process for the past 4 years in the midst of the critical situation of armed conflict.
Angélica Calixto Galván - Natural Heritage Fund Communications Professional
Liliana Paz Betancourt - Protected Areas and Climate Change Coordinator at Fundación Ecohabitats
