Dispatches from Colombia

Ranching Traditions

2008-09-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

How important is cattle ranching in the Llanos?
The Llanos occupies four departments (the equivalent of states) in Colombia. In Casanare, the department we visited, there are 12,500 ranches and 1.6 million cows. Ranching isn't part of the culture, it is the culture.
Round-up at La Esperanza. The ranches are big, but the cows are frequently brought into corrals to be treated for insects.
Talk about being born into ranching. Four-year-old Chucho rides in the round-up. When he needs a nap, he just sleeps in the saddle.
Ranches are remote, and there are few roads, so all meat is local. Chickens and pigs--in various degrees of wildness--roam all around the ranch.
A couple of cows are kept for milk; whole milk mixed with various fruit juices is a favored Colombian treat.
The Nature Conservancy is exploring the use of minerals and forage banks to raise more cows on less acres, allowing for some areas--such as river corridors--to be kept out of grazing.
How will this ranching tradition fare with increased energy development? Here, an oil well looms behind grazing cattle.
Working with ranchers, The Nature Conservancy hopes to preserve both their traditions and the wildlife that still roam these wild lands.

Wildlife Destination: Colombia

2008-09-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

Strangely, many people don't consider Colombia to be a nature or wildlife destination. But the country has amazing natural landscapes, ranging from coast to high Andean peaks, from grassy plains to Amazon rainforest. And there's amazing wildlife, like this tamandua (collared anteater). Ecotourism, if done correctly, could help protect this bounty of life.
Colombia has more bird species than any other country on earth. Almost one out of every five bird species on Earth can be found in Colombia.
Some will look quite familiar to Idaho residents, like this burrowing owl. They're incredibly common on the Llanos grasslands.
Others are very different, like this jabiru stork--another common Llanos resident.
Colombia also has more amphibians than any other country. Watch out for them in the shower.
And also, more butterflies.

Herds of capybaras--the world's largest rodent--roam the grasslands. In other parts of the country, you can see a giant anteater or a puma or even an anaconda.
And then there's the coast: beautiful white sand beaches, blue Caribbean waters, interesting mangrove bays. More people are starting to explore Colombia for birding, snorkeling, wildlife viewing and outdoor sports. The Conservancy believes this can be an opportunity to preserve Colombia's wildlife and wild places. But it can also be a threat. Tourists can harm animals, damage coral reefs, create demand for over-development. That's why the Conservancy is working to develop sustainable tourism standards that benefit both local communities and wildlife.

Puchis and the Armadillo

2008-09-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

Riding along on the Llanos grasslands, our horses suddenly stop. Puchis--the 14-year-old son of the ranchers on La Finca Esperanza, the ranch we were visiting--is off his horse in the flash. Armadillo!
Puchis has an almost supernatural ability to catch armadillos. He stalks quietly or chases them rapidly, as the situation dictates. Unless, there's a hole nearby, he'll soon be showing off the armadillo to us.
This armadillo species--the Llanos long-nosed armadillo--is found only here. It's much smaller than the more common nine-banded armadillo. We encountered several more on our horseback ride, all chased with great enthusiasm by Puchis.
Puchis has stopped school so he can devote all his time to the ranch. He'll take it over someday, and is already making decisions. And what a great conservationist he already is. He is raising native turtles to release on the ranch, and knows where to find the unusual creatures that roam the Llanos.
He enjoys finding and identifying birds. In the forested areas, birds are everywhere, but he can quickly point out the more unusual species.
One morning he found us a caiman nest. After checking to make sure the mother wasn't around, he showed us the eggs, then covered them back up.
Whether it's rounding up cattle or raising turtles or catching armadillos, Puchis is focused on life on the ranch. How fortunate for conservation that this young man will be making decisions that impact one of the great wild areas left on earth.

Cartagena

2008-08-27T07:20:00.001-07:00

A World Heritage site with beautifully restored Spanish architecture, Cartagena is a wonderful place to work for my fellowship. The scene above is what I see when I go to lunch or stroll around the historic city.

The old city is surrounded by a stone and corral wall, which the Spanish constructed over a period of 200 years (from the late 1500s to the late 1700s) to protect the city against pirate attacks. The wall remains remarkably intact, with only one section removed in the early 1900s for modernization. Much of the downtown thus remains behind the fortress walls.
Behind those walls are narrow streets with colorful colonial homes. It covers a quite large area; it's easy to become a bit disoriented wandering the streets.

There are many places to explore, with fortresses, cathedrals and monasteries (above) throughout the city.

The main cathedral of Cartagena.

Outside of the historic city, Cartagena is growing rapidly. There is a lot of development on a peninsula that juts out into the sea, called Boca Grande. We live in this neighborhood, which is largely apartments and beach hotels. It is about a 30 minute walk from here to the office.

The beach is only a block away in Boca Grande, and there are other nice beach areas on nearby islands. A marine national park is about an hour by boat away, and The Nature Conservancy is working to improve management of such national parks (more on this on Friday). The beach above is a few miles outside of Cartagena, a very peaceful spot.

This past weekend, we visited a nearby volcano. It no longer spews lava but still contains about liquid mud about a mile deep. We climbed into it and despite the depth of the mud, bobbed around it like apples in water. It was a strange sensation and overall a bizarre experience.

It's been a wonderful place to live and work for the past couple of weeks. Cartagena's many charms are becoming more well known around the world, as evidenced by the extensive development in the beach areas. Hopefully the city can benefit from this without losing its history, culture and natural features.

A Walk in the Park

2008-08-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

Parque Centenario is a city park located just a few blocks from my office, in the heart of downtown Cartagena. Despite being a very popular spot, I can often find some interesting wildlife roaming around. Red-tailed squirrels (above) are the most common. They behave much like our park squirrels.

I've seen a couple of three-toed sloths in trees. I'm not sure how they got here--the park is in the middle of the city, surrounded by roads and buildings on each side.

Tamarin monkeys live in several family groups. They can be easily spotted darting through the trees, especially early in the morning before most people show up.

The green iguanas graze on grass and flowers; when I get too close, they dash up the trees. We've also seen iguanas in wilder parts of Colombia.

Plastic bags and monkeys

2008-08-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

Making mochillas out of recycled plastic bags has provided an viable industry for small communities in Colombia and Bolivia, significantly lessening the need for people to clear forest and poach wildlife. Proyecto Titi, an organization dedicated to preserving the titi monkey (also known as the cotton-topped tamarin), worked with the community to help set up the project.

Children collect plastic bags from homes around the area to use in making the mochillas. Many of these bags would have otherwise been discarded in the countryside. The bags are then cut into a long, thin strip, to be crocheted in mochillas.

The plastic bags are then crocheted into the mochilla--which make a very nice handbag or even for carrying groceries. Each mochillas consists of 120-140 plastic bags. They are marketed in the United States and Europe.

Each is quality tested with a heavy, solid wooden block to ensure it can carry heavy weights. They are available in a variety of styles and colors.

The mochilla industry has transformed the community. Only four years ago, it had high unemployment. Today, the community is benefiting from the industry. People have been able to put floors in their homes and make them more liveable. They celebrate a "Day of the Titi" each year, where a titi queen is crowned. This year's recipient (above) was crowned two weeks ago. The children also have a three month course on the titi monkey, and a school group performs dances and songs about the monkey.

It has become a full community effort: Kids and men collect the bags, and the women transform them into the beautiful mochillas. It has significantly reduced pressure to clear forest at El Ceibal outside of Cartagena, one of the best remaining tracts of tropical dry forest--and a stronghold for the titi monkey.