This program aims to restore 14,400 hectares of forests in the Caquetá River basin, which flows into the Amazon River, in Colombia. The Caquetá River valley is inhabited by 4 cities of the Kamsá indigenous community, in the Amazon forests. There are 4 threats to the forests of the basin: 1. Deforestation for agricultural activities and illegal mining. 2. Contamination by heavy metals (mercury and lead) of wetlands underlying the basin (lagoons, streams). 3. Climate change: high temperatures are generating massive migration of native and endemic biodiversity to higher altitude forests (moorlands); animals die of starvation because food is scarce in these ecosystems. 4. Forest fires: induced (Kamsá indigenous people set fire to the forests to carry out agricultural activities) and natural (high temperatures generate forest fires). This program proposes strategies to restore and protect 14,400 hectares with conservation activities (reforestation of 50,000 trees); education (training of 300 young indigenous environmental leaders); sustainability (creation of a regional office for forest conservation in the Colombian Amazon basin); and communication (sensitize 50,000 people about conservation in the Colombian Amazon).
Keywords: Reforestation, Kamsá indigenous people, Colombian Amazon, pollution, forest fires.
