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The Nature Positive Solutions initiative in Putumayo is primarily involved in activities that utilize indigenous trees for restoration and creating value chains to generate new, legal sources of livelihood for local farmers.
By employing technological measurement systems and digital applications like Diversity for Restoration (D4R) and Cocoa for Restoration, the CGIAR initiative on Nature-Positive Solutions leverages data to support decision-making and conserve the region’s unique biodiversity.
Contact: Evert Tomas, Senior Scientist, e.tomas(at)cgiar.org
Operating Location: Parques nacionales Serranía Churumbelos y Alto Fragua, Putumayo Department
Traditional Name: Putumayu (Quechua)
Area of Operation: 97.239 hectáreas
Coordinates: 0.1933° N 75.5446° W
Communities: 700 households
Description of the Area: The Amazonian Putumayo, located in Colombia’s Amazon Basin, is a lush tropical rainforest rich in biodiversity. It features dense forests, rivers, wetlands, and floodplains, and is home to many species like jaguars, monkeys, toucans, and various reptiles. The region’s flora includes towering trees, orchids, and medicinal plants. Agricultural activities focus on growing bananas, cassava, rice, and corn, alongside the production of rubber, oilseeds, and timber. Livestock farming is prevalent in Bajo Putumayo. Sustainable practices like agroforestry are promoted to balance economic development with environmental conservation. In particular, native varieties of cocoa are looked at as a sustainable alternative to banana plantations for rural development.
The region faces several challenges from illicit crops, illegal logging, mining, and heavy reliance on monocultures, and the presence of armed groups that increase the insecurity of the area.
The Nature Positive Solutions initiative in Putumayo aims to promote sustainable land use practices based on trees, targeting 700 rural households in buffer zones of two national parks and the Amazonia Mía program area. The initiative contributes to local communities’ livelihoods by providing training and resources to establish agroforestry plantations featuring native tree species and market their products. It also contributes to biodiversity conservation through restoration of degraded lands and promoting the use of local species. By doing all these activities, the initiative seeks to enhance ecosystem services like water availability, air quality and carbon sequestration.
Unsustainable land use practices can lead to deforestation, which decreases the ability of ecosystems to clean air and releases harmful pollutants into the air. The initiative promotes tree-based land uses, which help to filter air pollution and improve local air quality.
By promoting tree planting, the CGIAR aims at tackling water woes in Putumayo. Trees prevent soil erosion, safeguarding water availability for agriculture, and their filtering abilities ensure cleaner water for irrigation, leading to healthier crops and a more productive agricultural sector.
Unsustainable land use practices – like heavy use of chemical inputs and monocropping – can degrade soil quality. By promoting agroforestry in polycropping systems and nutrient recycling, the initiative improves soil health to support agricultural production.
Deforestation and habitat loss are major threats to biodiversity. The CGIAR deploys softwares and stakeholder enabled apps to promote the use of native tree species and restoration of degraded lands which will benefit both agricultural ecosystems and wildlife.
The initiative equips Putumayo communities with training and resources to improve land management and increase their livelihoods legally, without recurring to illicit activities.
Putumayo’s deforestation contributes to climate change. By promoting tree planting and restoration of degraded lands the CGIAR aims at capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change impacts.
The CGIAR Initiative on Nature-Positive Solutions carries out its activities in partnership with numerous international and local organizations in order to leverage collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and skills and achieve the maximum possible impact. In each region several CG centers take part in the activities by contributing their expertise for the success of the entire initiative.
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The Nature-Positive Solutions platform is produced by The Lexicon with support from CGIAR, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, IWMI, IFPRI and CIP. Nature-Positive Solutions balance the needs of people and the planet, ensuring long-term ecological benefits, food security and livelihoods.
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