The Board of Directors of the CVC has just declared 1,277.52 hectares of the Hatoviejo ranch, in the municipality of Yotoco, as a Regional Integrated Management District. With this declaration, Valle del Cauca goes from 677,015 to 678,293 hectares, more than 32% of the department’s surface, under some category of protection.
A Regional Integrated Management District, DRMI is a long-term conservation category, allowing sustainable use, preservation, restoration, knowledge and enjoyment.
“A protected area is a blessing for the owners, it does not generate any type of limitation for the sale of the property, on the contrary, it allows them to have a protected ecosystem and generate sustainable projects in said territory: nature tourism, tourism routes in the same area, that is, it will not limit their domain at any time and on the contrary, what it will do is a benefit not only for the owner but for Valle del Cauca” Marco Antonio Suárez Gutiérrez explained after approval. , general director of the CVC.
“We consider that the strategy of declaring protected areas is fundamental and in it the Corporation is a national leader and this shows us and is evidence and reflection of that commitment that we have as an environmental authority. For example, what we have just declared is a strategic ecosystem that allows us to coordinate with other nearby protected areas such as the Ramsar wetlands of the Sonso lagoon complex,” said Paola Janeth Patiño, environmental technical director of the CVC.
In the case of Hatoviejo “it is a strategic area that is home to a variety of orchids, pink cedar and fauna species such as the howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus), the multicolored tanager (Chlorochrysa nitidissima), black-tailed chilacoa (Aramides Cajaneus) and the red-fronted parakeet (Psittacara wagleri), as well as the ocelot (Leopardus tigrinus), the night monkey (Aotus lemurinus), the woolly chucha (Caluromys derbianus), the two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), the tayra (Eira barbara) , the yagouaroundi (Puma yagouaroundi), the anthill (Tamandua mexicana) and the paca (Cuniculus paca), among others, making this space an important area for conservation,” explains biologist Natalia Gómez from the Biodiversity Group of the Technical Directorate of the CVC.
The DRMI Hatoviejo provides ecosystem services such as the protection of the Aguamona stream that contributes to the supply of the aqueduct of the municipality of Restrepo and the Negrito and Espinal streams that benefit approximately 1,764.61 hectares of crops in the flat area of the municipality of Yotoco. Likewise, the area contains 284.18 hectares of aquifer recharge zone
“This new DRMI connects the dry forest and the cloud forest and strengthens connectivity between the Guadualito El Negrito National Protective Forest Reserve (known as Yotoco Forest), the Albania Regional Protective Forest Reserve, the Laguna de Sonso Integrated Management Regional District, the upper Cauca River wetland complex (designated Ramsar site) and the El Vínculo Regional Natural Park,” adds Gómez.
In the area, the owners have developed biodiversity conservation actions through restoration, floristic enrichment with native species, research and monitoring. These actions also contribute to the protection and improvement of water sources, which are fragile due to the characteristics of the ecosystem.
Beyond its ecological importance, this natural area also houses landscapes and habitats that have cultural and social value. The Hacienda Hatoviejo was declared a National Monument of Colombia in 1996. The house, like the chapel, is more than 350 years old.
