Colombia - 01 August, 2013
Strengthening of local governance by stimulating communities to carry out monitoring activities of natural resources and the compilation of traditional knowledge to improve participative processes in the National Natural Park La Paya area is the main outcome of the Putumayo Three Frontiers project, which ended January 2013.
The aim of this project was to contribute to the proper management of the natural resources in the National Natural Park La Paya by civil servants and the communities living in its influence area. The long term objective of the whole initiative is to consolidate management plans of the natural resources from a regional perspective and with a participative approach.
Tropenbos International Colombia contributed to this ongoing process by promoting the collection of quantitative and qualitative information on wildlife and fish management issues and agricultural practices. And by developing support materials and tools (e.g. manuals, books, posters) which enhance an integral understanding of the ecosystem to strengthen the generation of local knowledge which can be used in decision making processes and participative formulation of management plans.
Here is an overview of the main products of these initiative:
Leguízamo: towards the historical construction of the territory
In this book a review of the existing documentation about the municipality of Leguízamo is presented, together with the outcomes of an exercise of social cartography and narrations about the population patterns from a local perspective. This document aimed at generating a sense of ownership by the local communities towards their territory and to stimulate participative processes to enhance local governance.
The cultivated plants of the people from the center in the Colombian Amazon
In this book, Abel Rodríguez -an elder from the Nonuya indigenous group- illustrates the traditional cultivation system used by his ethnic group and the diversity of cultivated plants in his territory. The aim of this document is to stimulate the recovery of the traditional agricultural practices by the communities of the Putumayo area.
The dynamics of creeks and fish in the Amazon: from the source to the mouth
In this book, the uitoto indigenous Enrique Hernández illustrates the distribution of fishes in the Amazon creeks. It shows which fishes are common in the source, mid-section and mouth of the creeks, from the seasonality perspective and the ecological relationships implied. This publication contributes to the basic understanding of fish in the Amazon region, and it should be considered in the formulation of management agreements that guarantee food security of local communities.
Consumption fishing in Leguízamo: diversity and local well-being
This publication presents the results of the monitoring of local consumption of fish in the communities of Leguízamo in 2011. The data was collected and analyzed following the community monitoring strategy of Tropenbos International Colombia. As part of the analysis, more than 100 species of fish for local consumption were identified as well as their seasonality and commercial value.
The tree of abundance and life
This is an illustration of the traditional narration that explains the origin of food for human beings from the perspective of Abel Rodríguez, an elder form the Nonuya indigenous group from the Mid River Caquetá. It is accompanied by a video in which he explains the story of food to the people from the Putumayo region and the teachings it implies in terms of forest management and food security. This material is also directed to stimulate the compilation of local knowledge in the Leguízamo area.
Water levels and ecological relationships in the Amazon
These are four posters which show the changes in the levels of rivers in the Amazon rainforest and the ecological relationships implied in such changes. The posters were presented as a pedagogical tool to promote the understanding of seasonality in the region among children and adults.
Climate indicators
This is a monitoring tool designed to register the indicators of changes in the weather in the Amazon region. The objective is to gather data to develop local ecological calendars which could serve as input for management plans. They also may contribute to measure the impact of climate change at a local level.
The Putumayo Three Frontiers project was framed in the Tri-National Programme for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Corridor of Protected Areas in Colombia (Parque Nacional Natural La Paya), Peru (Zona Reservada Güeppí) and Ecuador (Reserva de Producción Faunística Cuyabeno). The activities in Colombia were implemented by WWF Colombia and Tropenbos International Colombia and financed by the European Union and WWF International.