Thanks to the interest and the work of the Environmental Management Board of Urrao, in Antioquia, of which ProAves forms a part, the Municipal Council of the same municipality regulates the entry of visitors to the Paramo del Sol thus contributing to its conservation.
Since 2012 a process initially led by CORPOURABA called “Workshops Páramo del Sol” in which the Municipality, National Parks, Educational Institutions, township tour operators, civil society and Fundación ProAves participated.
First the entry rules to the Páramo del Sol for visitors were settled, then the group increased participation and stakeholders to become what is now the Urrao Environmental Board where different groups and sectors of the municipality interested in environmental conservation come together and increase the environmental knowledge among residents of this county.
The greatest achievement of the Board is to regulate the entry of visitors to the Paramo del Sol, which was approved unanimously by the Urrao City Council in November 2013. The project was born from the Environmental Board and today is in the socialization phase with the community.
For the Mayor of the town of Urrao, Luis Eduardo Urrego, “the environmental Board allows us to hear the voice of the citizens, who recognize the importance of a naturally biodiverse zone, the protection of the paramo is very significant for those of us who live in the town and know the impact on the development of conservation areas, from the administration we hope to expand and ensure the reserve area”
During 2014 the Board will begin a series of workshops and training for its participants and socialization activities that benefit environmental education and awareness, use and appropriation of Urraeños in terms of environmental conservation and the natural spaces in the town.
The Dusky Starfrontlet Bird Reserve is located in the municipality of Urrao which is linked to the National System of Protected Areas (SINAPs). It has dense forests and high altitude Andean valleys with a variety of endemic species.
On an expedition in 2004, a critically endangered species of hummingbird, Dusky Starfrontlet (Coeligena orina), was rediscovered and the Reserve took its name from it. There has been no record of it for over 50 years.
ProAves has been present in the town of Urrao for over 8 years, where many major research, conservation and environmental education projects have taken place which seeks the benefit of environmental conservation and the natural heritage of the town.
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