Tourist Routes for Forests and Peace in Colombia
15th June 2020
Acorn Tourism, with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London and E3 Asesoría in Colombia, is working with three post-conflict communities to develop Tourist Routes for Forests and Peace. The team and Frank Gardner went on an expedition into previously unexplored rainforest searching for rare plant species unknown to botanists.
Colombia is the second most bio-diverse country in the world after Brazil and has more bird species than any other country. The Tourist Routes for Forests and Peace project is working in three strategic ecosystems helping strengthen the social fabric of the communities and preserve the rainforest, by creating new livelihoods based on sustainable tourism.
The three communities are all located in very different ecosystems: Bocas del Atrato in the municipality of Turbo, which has a unique biodiversity typical of the mangroves of the Gulf of Urabá. Further north, Serranía del Perijá in the municipalities of La Jagua de Ibirico and Becerril, has an amazing history of peace, resilience, and sustainability. The third one is the Serranía de las Quinchas in the municipality of Otanche. This is where Frank Gardner’s expedition took him into the last fragment of the tropical rainforest of Magdalena Medio, home to a large number of endemic species.
This initiative is part of the UK-PACT Colombia programme of the Ministry of Business, Energy, Industry, and Strategy, BEIS UK. It also works closely with the processes that have been developed in the three territories with the Colombian Development and Peace Programs.
