Safeguarding the Andes Cloud Forest in Colombia | Mazariegos & Pimm

In this episode, I am talking to Luis Mazariegos and Stuart Pimm about their successful conservation project in Western Andes Cloud Forest, in Colombia, one of the most biodiverse spots on the planet. Since 2008, The Hummingbird Conservancy, with financial support from Saving Nature has restored 3,500 hectares of degraded land and connected about 100 km2 of intact forest with the main Andean chain into a land corridor.
Together we talk about:
- Why the Western Andes Cloud Forest is so unique
- Why creating land corridors is vital for species survival
- How corridors are built - land acquisition and restoration
- How the corridor brought back pumas, ocelots and other species
- How the conservation project involves and benefits the local community
- What challenges the reserve faces
Luis Mazariegos is a world’s leading hummingbird photographer, founder of The Hummingbird Conservancy and virologist by profession. He resides in Colombia but frequently travels to US where he has company that sells bio pesticides.
Stuart Pimm is a world leader in the study of present day extinctions and he is currently, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University.