PHOTO: WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
Colombia Establishes New Marine and Coastal Area for Conservation
The Government of Colombia has recently established a new marine and coastal area for conservation and sustainable use in partnership with local communities in Tumaco, Colombia.
The Government of Colombia has recently established a new marine and coastal area for conservation and sustainable use in partnership with local communities in Tumaco, Colombia.
The new National Integrated Management District (DNMI) covers a total area of 190,282 hectares (more than 734 square miles) and occupies a strategic location that connects important protected areas in the Colombian Pacific with the Manglares Cayapas Mataje (REMACAM) Reserve in Ecuador.
The DNMI will promote conservation and protect wildlife, including leatherback turtles and humpback whales, by strengthening the rights of local communities. These communities will help to co-manage the area of conservation and protect natural resources, including mangrove and native floodplains, fisheries resources, and feeding and resting places for wildlife.
The DNMI will protect 22 species of mammals, 20 species of birds, 12 species of reptiles, 30 species of mollusks, and a large number of fish species, including 57 species important for artisanal fishing and 16 for industrial fishing. Its mangroves also help protect against climatic events, mitigate climate change, and improve the overall quality of the ecosystem.
With the declaration of the DNMI, Colombia has established a total of 28,918,584 hectares (more than 111,000 square miles) of protected areas, with 13.73 percent in marine and coastal environments. This means they have achieved the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11, which aims to conserve at least 10 percent of coastal and marine areas.