Posted on noviembre, 06 2009

Bogotá, Colombia (October 27, 2009) The Ministry of Environment, through the National Natural Parks Agency, with the financial and technical support of the Moore Foundation, Gaia Amazon Foundation and WWF declares the third largest Natural National Park of Colombia.

The Yaigojé Apaporis National Natural Park is located in the lower Apaporis river watershed; to the south it limits with the Mirití-Paraná, Puerto Cordoba and Comeyafú indigenous reserves and to the north with the Great Vaupés reserve, between the departments of Amazonas and Vaupés.  For the Indigenous peoples, Yaigojé means the water pool of the jaguar, a spiritual figure that provides knowledge over culture and nature.

The creation of the Protected Area was an initiative of the Indigenous Traditional Authorities, grouped under the Indigenous Captains Yaigojé Apaporis Association, ACIYA, who aimed to strengthen actions for the integrated protection and conservation of this territory and in particular the cultural values of the Makuna, Tanimuka, Letuama, Kawiyarí, Barasana, Yujup-Macu and Yauna indigenous peoples, associated with the conservation, use and management of the territory.

The area is rich in fauna and flora, with a recorded 1,683 vascular plants (33 endemic to Colombia), 362 birds (2 of which are not found yet at any protected area of the Colombian Amazon), 81 reptiles, 73 amphibians, 201 fish (3 of which are new records for Colombia), 443 butterflies (3 are new species), 16 endangered species of mammals (giant anteater, howler monkey, night monkey, uakary monkey, widow monkey, tufted and white-fronted capuchins, woolly monkey, squirrel monkey, giant otter, ocelot, jaguar, puma, pink dolphin, Amazonian manatee and tapir).

A rich cultural tradition of shamanistic and ritualistic practices provides a wealth of knowledge to life and protects the world.  The hills, river rapids, water pools, lakes, creeks, rivers, caves, salt-licks, rocks, palm stands, savannas and springs are considered by the indigenous peoples of the Yaigojé Apaporis Reservoir as “Sacred Sites”, that are the indelible marks of the work of the gods during the creation of the world, giving special meaning to each part of the territory.

The Indigenous peoples of the Apaporis have achieved and regulated the use and management of their territories since ancient times, and although cultural changes have been significant during the past 200 years, a solid ancestral foundation persists allowing communities maintain management of what they consider their territory.  This knowledge is applied in their daily activities of hunting, fishing, harvesting, horticulture and sophisticated shamanistic or spiritual practices that constitute a great opportunity for the protection and management of the Protected Area.
  
The Yaigojé Apaporis National Natural Park expands the protection of several Amazonian ecosystems.  The areas is a unique mosaic of several types of tropical humid forests and physiographical landscapes that are distributed across the territory, including alluvial plains (e.g. the Apaporis at Caparú), 90 meters high rock formations such as the Taraira and Jirijirimo serranias at 250 meters of altitude, including terraces with hilly landscapes and strongly dissected, in between 100 and 150 meters of altitude.     

The Yaigojé Apaporis National Natural Park not only generates environmental benefits for the local population, but also global benefits to humankind, specifically related with the protection of high priority regions for the processes of climatic regulation and strategic for the development of actions related to the adaptation to climate change.

“All the information on biodiversity collected with WWF’s support was, at the end of the day, the basis for this declaration; it demonstrated the ecological integrity of the area, its riches and the potential of its conservation”, said Mary Louise Higgins, WWF Colombia Country Representative.  “Further steps will lead us to strengthen the commitment of working jointly with the indigenous peoples diminishing the threat posed by mining activities and protecting the ecosystems services provided by the Amazon biome.”