Integrating farming and páramo conservation : A case study from Colombia
Soulard, Christophe-Toussaint | Michel-Dounias, Isabelle | Posner, Joshua
The Colombian environmental policy voted in 1993, which was to strengthen the protection of natural resources - particularly biodiversity and water - is totally unfavorable to farming in the strategic páramo ecosystem. However, many rural development practitioners and researchers believe that an integrated management of the páramo is possible, and that farming activities can be part of the solution along this agriculture-conservation frontier. This issue has become particularly acute on the Rabanal páramo (western cordillera), in Colombia, where the projected expansion of a core protection zone will soon include major areas currently used for agriculture and settlements. Although family farmers have been living there for decades, the environmental authorities are focused on prohibiting farming activities in the entire protection area. A study of local history and aerial photos indicates that this zone has been a dynamic part of local farming systems since at least the 1950’s and that the páramo has evolved from a subsistence farming area to a zone that now includes intensive potato production conducted by external entrepreneurs. Their presence is mainly due to the need of family farmers for a cost effective solution to maintain the productivity of their pastures. Through a process of interviewing participants in the debate, as well as mapping land use in the area use for agriculture that will be soon included into the protection area, objectives for action were developed that would result in more sustainable farming practices, thus enhancing the conservation of the páramo biodiversity and water resource.
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