Mountain Partnership

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Colombia

National Committee

The initial impetus to form the National Committee came from OpEPA, and was officially formed in May-June 2002. The Committee was focused on organising immediate activities to mark the International Year of Mountains, rather than on developing a long-term programme for sustainable mountain development.

The National Committee was formed of different civil society agencies. Its composition included the following:

Government

Ministry of the Environment
Empresa de Acueducto
Procuenca
Conservación Internacional

UN

World Bank

NGO

Directors of Regional Environmental Corporations especially from mountain regions such as Corpocaldas, CARDER, Cortolima, CRQ and CAR
Organisation for Environmental Education and Protection OpEPA

Research

Alexander von Humboldt Institute
IDEAM
The Department of Forestry Sciences of the National University of Colombia

Civil society

Club del Escalador

Preparatory Activities for the International Year of Mountains

In 2001 two new Nature Parks were opened; the Riserva Natural Ambiental La Planada and Zona Natural Ambiental Valle de Cocora. The opening of the parks was used as an opportunity to draw attention to the objectives of the International Year of Mountains.

Activities and Achievements during the International Year of Mountains

International

An International Conference 'Congreso Mundial de Paramos' was held in Paipa, Boyacá (13-18 May) aimed at evaluating the state of knowledge on these hotspots of the tropical Andes focusing particularly on the importance of the management of its watersheds and the conservation challenges in terms of environmental damage caused to these areas.

National

A 'Virtual Mountains' competition on mountain ecosystems was run by the Sustainable Development Network (RDS) and organized as an International Year of Mountains activity.

Publications

Amongst the numberous publications produced within the framework of the Year were:

Castaño Uribe, C (ed.) 2002. Paramos Ecosistemas Alto Andinos de Colombia en condiciones Hot Spot & Global Climatic Tensor. IDEAM. Ministerio del Medio Ambiente, PNUD. Bogotá

Páramos del Territorio CAR, containing a description of each of the paramunos ecosystems of the CAR territory.

Beyond the International Year of Mountains

The activities and initiatives carried out for International Year of Mountains succeeded in focussing attention on the severely damaged state of the paramos ecosystems. As a result of the Year in Colombia, the World Bank considered it necessary to undertake a study and inventory of the current state of the country's desert ecosystems.

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