The Conserva Aves initiative has supported the protection of more than 25,000 hectares in Colombia, benefiting nine endangered species, such as the paisa mountaineer, the Cundinamarca tororoí and the sun hummingbird. Thanks to direct investments and calls for proposals, local partners have acquired or declared key protected areas. Since 2021, with support from the Bezos Earth Fund, Conserva Aves has worked with communities and organizations to establish reserves and conservation agreements. These efforts strengthen biodiversity and promote ecotourism, ensuring the protection of critical ecosystems in the region.
Photo credit: Santiago Chiquito García.
Antioquia Brushfinch (Atlapetes blancae) is a South American species classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
The Conserva Aves initiative, a partnership that includes American Bird Conservancy (ABC), has supported the protection of ten areas in Colombia that provide habitat for several endangered species, including the Antioquia Brushfinch, Cundinamarca Antpitta, and Glittering Starfrontlet. With support from the initiative, local partners were able to acquire or designate more than 60,000 acres as subnational protected areas.
Conserva Aves is a hemispheric initiative to create and expand subnational protected areas in Latin America. It is led by ABC, Audubon, BirdLife International, Birds Canada, and the Latin America and Caribbean of Environmental Funds (RedLAC). The initiative has two innovative implementation mechanisms, direct investments or calls for proposals, both of which are effective ways for Conserva Aves to promote its conservation goals.
Through its direct investment strategy, ABC has been working with local partners in Colombia since Conserva Aves launched in 2021 with support from the Bezos Earth Fund. These protected areas are the result of three years of planning and implementation.
Cerro California Community Conservation Agreements
Partner: Fundación EcoHabitats
7,712 acres (3,121 hectares)
Fundación EcoHabitats and Asociación Agroambiental Santa Clara Serranía El Pinche signed conservation agreements with four communities in Cerro California to conserve more than 7,000 acres (3,000 hectares) to protect habitat for the Critically Endangered Gorgeted Puffleg, a rare hummingbird with a very limited range. Cerro California is a buffer area of the Serranía del Pinche, a Key Biodiversity Area located in the western ranges of the Colombian Andes.
Reserva Natural del Montañerito Paisa
Partners: Corporación SalvaMontes and Corporación Neotropical Innovation
1,042 acres (422 hectares)
SalvaMontes and Neotropical Innovation established the Reserva Natural del Montañerito Paisa (Antioquia Brushfinch Natural Reserve) through the purchase of 1,042 acres (422 hectares). Located in the Andes north of Medellín, this reserve protects the Critically Endangered Antioquia Brushfinch, an endemic species of Colombia that numbers only 50-100 individuals.
The partners are building tourism infrastructure in the reserve, which will be completed next year, as well as advocating for its designation as a private protected area — called a Civil Society Natural Reserve (RNSC) in Spanish — in the Colombian National System of Protected Areas. An additional 906 acres are being protected through conservation agreements and leases while a long-term conservation strategy is defined for these properties.
Reserva Guanacas
Partner: Fundación Guanacas Bosques de Niebla
145 acres (59 hectares)
Established in 2007, Reserva Guanacas has expanded its land area by 145 acres (59 hectares). This reserve serves as habitat for the Antioquia Brushfinch, the Vulnerable Antioquia chocolate frog, and the Vulnerable oncilla, a small spotted cat. The reserve is also an important archaeological site in the region — its headquarters sit on a stone terrace that is around 2,000 years old and many historical artifacts have been identified there. Through the project, Fundación Guanacas built tourism infrastructure and initiated the process to declare the reserve an RNSC.
Reserva El Silencio
Partner: Fundación Biodiversa Colombia
1,418 acres (574 hectares)
Fundación Biodiversa Colombia acquired 1,418 acres (574 hectares) to expand its area, protecting the best and largest patch of lowland tropical forest in the middle Magdalena Valley. This reserve in north-central Colombia is important habitat for the Critically Endangered Blue-billed Curassow, migratory birds such as the Prothonotary Warbler, and globally threatened species like the brown spider monkey. Fundación Biodiversa Colombia is improving the reserve’s infrastructure and roads.
Reserva Natural Refugio Tororoi
Partner: Fundación Camaná Conservación y Territorio
499 acres (202 hectares)
The Reserva Natural Refugio Tororoi is a 499-acre (202 hectares) expanse of misty, highland cloud forest situated on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains, southeast of Bogotá, Colombia. Created through a partnership with Fundación Camaná Conservación y Territorio and the Herrera family whose property borders the reserve, this reserve protects critical habitat for the Endangered Cundinamarca Antpitta, which numbers only in the hundreds and faces pressure from deforestation that could decimate the habitat of this range-restricted species. The reserve is in the process of being expanded by an additional 49 acres (20 hectares).
Atuncela Public Protected Area
Partner: Corporación Ambiental y Forestal del Pacífico (CORFOPAL)
3,262 acres (1,320 hectares)
CORFOPAL has been working on the expansion of the Distrito Regional de Manejo Integrado (DRMI) Enclave Subxerofítico de Atuncela since 2022. Located on the western slopes of the Colombian Andes, Atuncela’s original 2,506 acres (1,014 hectares) of dry shrubland first received protected status in 2007. The additional 3,262 acres included in the expansion create a gradient of protected habitat, with shrubland transitioning to humid tropical forest as the elevation climbs. This protected area is home to several endangered bird species like the Black-and-chestnut Eagle and Lemon-browed Flycatcher.
Alto Calima Public Protected Area
Partner: Fundación Trópico
44,733 acres (18,115 hectares)
In May 2024, the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca (CVC) officially announced the declaration of the Distrito Regional de Manejo Integrado Alto Calima. Alto Calima is an incredibly biodiverse region where the confluence of the Andes and the Pacific results in five different ecosystems covering more than 44,000 acres. The designation process in Alto Calima started with the support of direct investments and it was also the first protected area funded under the call for proposals mechanism of Conserva Aves. The declaration came after 17 months of work by the rural and ethnic communities of the municipality of Calima El Darién, led by the Fundación Trópico and supported by the Conserva Aves initiative.
Reserva Natural Mesenia-Paramillo
Partner: Fundación Bioconservancy
1,786 acres (723 hectares)
Established in 2008, Reserva Natural Mesenia-Paramillo is located in the western and eastern slopes of the Colombian Western Andes in the Key Biodiversity Area Bosques Montanos del Sur de Antioquia. It is home to several globally threatened bird species, including the Endangered Black-and-chestnut Eagle and Glittering Starfrontlet. Fundación Bioconservancy has a long-term plan to expand its reserve to protect 21,250 acres in the region. Fundación Bioconservancy was also awarded a grant under the call for proposals in Colombia and will continue working with Conserva Aves to have the area declared as an RNSC.
Reserva Natural La Cristalina
Partner: Sociedad Ornitológica de Córdoba (SOC)
656 acres (265 hectares)
Reserva La Cristalina is a newly created reserve located in the Alto Sinú region on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It is home to the first Crested Eagle hatchling ever found in the country, named Millo. SOC acquired 656 acres of land that will protect the Crested Eagle family and other threatened species such as the Endangered Great Green Macaw and the Critically Endangered Blue-billed Curassow. As part of this project, SOC will build tourism infrastructure and kickstart the process to declare the reserve an RNSC.
Reserva ProAves Pauxi Pauxi
Partner: Fundación ProAves
543 acres (220 hectares)
The Pauxi Pauxi Reserve is embedded within the Key Biodiversity Area of Serranía de los Yariguíes, a mountain range in the eastern Andes of Colombia that spans 1,235,526 acres (500,000 hectares). Fundación ProAves has been working to expand its existing 2,000-hectare reserve, established in 2007, to further protect its land from forest clearance. Last year, the organization purchased an additional 543 acres (220 hectares). This reserve is home to various threatened species, including the Endangered Magdalena Tapaculo.