Protecting the Andean Cloud Forests Of Colombia

One of the Most Unique Places on Planet Earth

What Makes This Place So Unique?

High in the mountainous cloud forests of Colombia lies one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. With nearly two million species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, these remote rainforests hold approximately 1/6 of our planet’s total biodiversity.

Plagued by the guerilla group FARC for decades, scientists could not access the plethora of species that call this steep terrain home. With only 10% of species identified and new species being recorded regularly, these jungles play a critical role in global biodiversity conservation and scientific discovery. Due to a combination of both physical isolation and warm, tropical air meeting cooler mountain currents, these misty Andean peaks create the perfect conditions for species found nowhere else on Earth.

Protecting the cloud forests of Colombia is a critical step in the fight against climate change and biodiversity preservation before it is lost forever.

Project Highlights

What Is a Cloud Forest?

Cloud forests are some of the planet’s most unique and biodiversity-rich regions despite only accounting for 1% of global forests. These extraordinary forests are created when warm air meets cooler mountain currents, producing rare and hyper-specific conditions for an immense variety of life to thrive.

Our project site ranges from 2,600 feet above sea level to more than 11,000 feet, living in the shadows of the glacial peaks of the high Andes Mountains. This steep, high-altitude, and isolated environment generates the perfect conditions for endemism (species found nowhere else in the world).

Due to various threats, this cloud forest and all of the species that call it home are under imminent threat of extinction.

This project will work to connect and restore forests, protect species from imminent threats, and prevent extinctions.

World-Renowned Scientists & Experts

Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology, World Leader in Biodiversity and Modern Extinctions

Former EVP & Chief Science & Exploration Officer National Geographic, Assistant Secretary US Department of Commerce, General Counsel NOAA

Learn More About the Project From Stuart Pimm

Threat of Extinction

Deforestation is on the rise in Colombia, with an increase of 38% compared to 2015. With the area’s intense and historic livestock activity, deforestation in the valleys north and south of the project area has created severe habitat fragmentation. The region is now rapidly expanding the production of avocados which currently accounts for 23% of Colombia’s avocado production, which has more than doubled from 2015 through 2020.

Without securing these areas for reforestation, continued conversion of land to agricultural production could further erode habitat quality. We are working with our partners at Saving Nature to purchase areas of deforested land as it becomes available and restore the forest of those properties to create an essential wildlife corridor that will be protected in perpetuity.

If we don’t act quickly, Colombia could become # 1 in climate-caused extinctions.