Community-based Restoration At El Silencio Natural Reserve

Since 2016, FBC and its allies have been building capacity and supporting the local fishermen community of Barbacoas with a tree nursery and forest restoration. The aim is to provide a source of income through nature conservation to improve their livelihoods.

For this project, we partnered with Fundacion Natura Colombia in 2020 to actively restore 5 ha of grasslands to create a corridor to connect two forest patches and build a new plant nursery (see map of Natura restoration areas). In addition, our experience in assisted restoration techniques will be applied to speed-up natural regeneration. This includes fencing and isolation, planting of fast-growing pioneers to reduce competition of grass, planting of food sources for birds and mammals, and artificial perches for birds and bat shelters, among others. These techniques have proven to be cost-effective, as natural regeneration occurs very rapidly in this ecosystem, due to a combination of proximity of mature forests, soil fertility, warm temperatures and high precipitation.

The aim of this project is to pay the community to provide tree seedlings and pay for labor to restore cattle pastures in two areas: 1) the border of the main stream in the area in order to improve habitat for water and terrestrial animals, and where the community can carry out community-based ecotourism; and 2) the basin of a deep well where the community pumps out their household water through a solar system that our foundation supported building in 2019. Restoring the forest cover of the basin would ensure water provision for the future and improve the community’s resilience to climate change.

Team

Fernando Arbeláez
Julio César Marín Cruz

---