The site is located in el Cerro de la Paz, specifically in the municipalities of San Vicente, Zapatoca and Betulia (Santander); this a mountain system that is affected and threatened by intensive livestock activities developed in the buffer zone.
Activities such as hunting, subsistence and trapping, the opening of areas for crops such as cocoa, coffee, & to a lesser extent, of food crops, livestock and illicit crops have put great pressure on these forest fragments.
On the Cerro de la Paz 220 bird species have been registered, of which 15 are migratory species, 7 endemic, 9 near-endemic and 4 threatened, making the achievement of new lands for conservation and expansion of the protected area a priority.
In recent reports from the CAS (Corporación Autónoma de Santander) it is estimated that the Santander forests are disappearing at the accelerated rate of 30 hectares a day, due to illegal timber trafficking, drug trafficking and agricultural sectors. In the past 10 years, 140 thousand hectares of forest were cleared and this trend will continue if nothing is done to done to stop the deforestation process.
For the above reasons and in addition to the inevitable current threats such as the damming of the river Sogamoso for the construction of a hydroelectric plant “Hidrosogamoso”, recent explorations for coal mining and oil drilling in nearby areas, making the region “a priority area for conservation.” The reserve includes areas of tropical moist forest life (Bh-T), average annual temperature of 27.8 ° C and a rainfall exceeding 2000 mm.
Pictures taken with camera traps in the Pauxi Pauxi Bird Reserve.
PROJECTS TO DEVELOP
Easements: ProAves as primary tool has created this project to promote conservation in the area with the help of the community. 7 legal ecological easements have been created for this reserve, with legalized commitments set and covenanted not to cut trees and forests on their land, making reseeding (native seedlings from our nursery) and not to carry out activities that threaten nature.
Corridor conservation: in agreement with the management plan of the reserve, ProAves has launched a conservation project which has as its main task to connect the mountain forests Cerro de la Paz (Pauxi Pauxi Bird Reserve) with the mountains of Yariguíes (Reinita Cielo Azul Bird Reserve) to allow movement of species between the two formations, ensuring genetic exchange, the survival of birds, amphibians, mammals etc. It also develops methods of planting native trees in the corridor of approximately 10 kilometers long by 1 kilometer wide.
Environmental education: for the development of such projects, ProAves has held conferences, group discussions, visits, presentations to government and private entities, radio and television programs, festivals and parades, to make known to the community the importance of such projects and create local awareness to take a decisive attitude of support for the success of these programs.
Ecotourism: is one of the pillars of great interest to national and international communities interested in observing birds and their protection, regardless of the adverse features of the pathways leading to the reserve.
With this expansion project, ProAves ensures a better habitat winning a sheltered space to poor forestry practices that threaten the environment in the region.
With the support of the following organizations:
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