ID: 1306

Guanacas Reserve Expansion

A new land purchase of 122 hectares has connected Colombian cloud forests that are home to Ocelot, Oncilla, and the Antioquia Brushfinch, a Critically Endangered bird once known only from museum specimens. The expansion of the Guanacas Reserve in the Colombian Andes was backed by World Land Trust Action Fund supporters and made possible by the foresight, knowledge and hard work of Fundación Guanacas Bosques de Niebla. This latest Action Fund victory will expand the reserve to 1687 hectares. The reserve extension brings a major reprieve to a wealth of endangered life, none more so than the endemic Antioquia Brushfinch. First identified from three museum specimens in 1971, this songbird with its striking rusty crown was not seen alive until 2018. Lying on the edge of extinction, its population is thought to number fewer than 50 individuals, restricted entirely to a small area of north-western Colombia. Alongside the flagship brushfinch, the reserve extension will benefit the resident Endangered magnolia tree Magnolia yarumalensis, a spotted rodent known as the Mountain Paca, the Critically Endangered toad Atelopus sernai, the distinctive Golden-fronted Whitestart, and more than 90 species of orchid. Fundación Guanacas plan to restore various degraded areas in the reserve through native plant species, boosting connectivity between the site and the Santa Rosa de Osos municipal reserve. They are also setting aside a 9-hectare site of former pastureland to use as a base for their environmental education, ecotourism and community outreach initiatives.

Planned actions

Management of land/water

Protection of land/water

Species management

Education or awareness-raising