March 17, 2021

Colombia will establish 5,000 hectares of Habitat Banks, an environmental compensation mechanism designed to safeguard some of the most vulnerable ecosystems in our territory. This initiative will also facilitate the implementation of a business model that will drive new opportunities for rural development. This objective will be achieved through the collaborative efforts of the British government, represented by its embassy in Colombia, the Partnership for Forest (P4F) program, and Terrasos, a Colombian company at the forefront of compensation and mandatory environmental investment structuring.

This project represents a novel investment strategy that will enable Colombia to establish protected areas for environmental conservation and restoration, thereby bolstering biodiversity and community well-being across the country.

"We are honored to spearhead initiatives that drive sustainable development in Colombia. By investing in these initiatives, we aim to provide the private sector with a reliable framework for investment, ensuring a stable and predictable environment for technical and legal compensation". Colin Martin-Reynolds, UK Ambassador to Colombia.

Partnerships for Forest (P4F) is a program that works in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Its primary objective is to mobilize private capital to reduce deforestation and improve sustainable land use. P4F is committed to the Habitat Banks strategy, which it has already successfully implemented in Colombia. This strategy will enable the consolidation of ecological corridors throughout the Colombian territory, creating development opportunities in regions that have been historically affected by violence and that today see biodiversity as a powerful resource for social and economic development.

“Terrasos has worked for nearly 10 years in the implementation of cutting-edge strategies for the conservation of ecosystems. We are convinced that the best business is the conservation of biodiversity and its ecosystem services ”, Mariana Sarmiento, CEO of Terrasos.

Over the next two years, P4F and Terrasos will collaborate closely to achieve the objective of transforming 5,000 hectares of threatened ecosystems, including tropical dry forest, tropical rainforest, cloud forest, and savannas, into areas that enhance biodiversity in our country. This presents a valuable opportunity for companies to streamline their compensation processes and enhance efficiency, while also enabling environmental authorities to optimize the monitoring and follow-up of mandatory environmental investments.