The Guaybero-Cocodrilo Reserve, La Macarena
Over the following weeks we will be publishing a series of short instalments which will provide a fuller profile of the Guayabero Reserve including its geography and natural features, its wildlife and the research being undertaken to identify species present on the Reserve, progress with reforestation of degraded areas, educational initiatives for local children and communication and co-operation with neighbouring landowners.
CTF’s latest Reserve acquisition, glorfying in the name of The Guayabero Cocodrilo Reserve, has been established in the humid tropical foothills of the Colombian amazon. The 343 hectare (847 acre) Reserve is dedicated to rainforest conservation, the protection of the range of species endemic to north Amazonia and, as its spanish name suggests, the protection of the endangered orinoco crocodile. The orinoco crocodile is one of the most threatened crocodile species in the world and the most endangered species in the New World.
The purchase of the Guayabero Reserve was completed in the summer of 2020 with a large donation to CTF from the Pearson Foundation, the charitable arm of the UK publishing giant. This donation not only covered the total purchase price of the Reserve but also included a substantial sum for the reforestation of areas previously deforested for livestock raising, allowing for the replanting of 45,000 native tree saplings, which is already being undertaken now.
In turn, the funds were transferred by CTF to Permian Colombia, the local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) who now own and manage the Reserve. The Reserve is now in the process of being registered with National Natural Parks of Colombia as a Natural Reserve of the Civil Society – in plain English, a registered Private Nature Reserve.
As you can see, protecting rainforest is a complicated business!
Our photograph shows the spectacular high canopy rainforest at the Western end of the Guayabero Reserve with the bordering Guayabero River in the middle distance and beyond, the Sierra de La Macarena, a mountainous formation isolated to the East of the main Andean system.