Meta highland savannahs
"El Amparo" Habitat Bank
Biodiversity, connectivity, sustainability
The habitat bank is located in the municipality of Puerto Lopez, in the part north-central department of Meta.
The area included for the conservation, preservation and restoration of biodiversity has 430 hectares bordering the Yucao River. There you can find characteristic ecosystems of the Colombian Orinoquia such as riparian and gallery forests, floodable grasslands and semi-natural areas.
This initiative aims to improve the quality of biodiversity in a space that has historically been transformed by anthropogenic actions where livestock farming and monocultures of exotic species such as acacias and African palm stand out.
Ecological corridor
El Amparo Habitat Bank, is part of the Puma Triangle, an ecological corridor of great environmental interest and ecological importance since it allows the mobility of wild species between forest patches and thus, maintains the genetic flow of both plant and animal populations.
If your work, project or activity is located in any of the blue areas of the maps that appear on the side, you can comply with your environmental obligations derived from mandatory investments of no less than 1% or biodiversity loss offsets, both mandatory and voluntary, in this Habitat Bank.
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Importance
of the area
selected
Inside of theHabitat Bank tools for monitoring and effective management of the Habitat Bank are developed to ensure the increase in plant cover and, in turn, increase the incidence of wildlife that can be safeguarded while keeping to a minimum the pressures and threats that it may present in the area.
Thanks to the protection of ecosystems, natural processes such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, regulation of water source processes and recovery of degraded soils are ensured. Due to previous agricultural activities.
Species of conservation importance
According to the baseline survey for the characterization of the biotic component,103 species of birds were observed, of which 19 are of interest for conservation. Also, 10 species of non-flying mammals were found, of which 4 have some category of threat within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Within the Habitat Bank, key species for the conservation of biodiversity have been registered because they are umbrella species or flag species. Among these records is theWhite-breasted Toucan (Ramphastos tucanus)that has been seen in reduction due to the accelerated deforestation that causes the decrease of the forests where it lives.
Additionally, there are records of species whose ecosystem functionality is of great importance due to the roles it plays within the ecosystem. In this case, the highlightpalm bear (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and tapir (Tapirus terrestris)who are controllers of plant populations and seed dispersers. Both being in a vulnerable state (VU) of extinction due to the fragmentation and degradation of their habitat and poaching. In addition, the presence of thecougar (Puma concolor), an umbrella species that, thanks to its carnivorous diet, is the controller of herbivore populations.