Colombia expands conservation areas to 13 million hectares

The Colombian government has announced the recognition of 27 new conservation areas under the ‘Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures’ (OECM) framework. These new areas total 13,342 hectares and were presented during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.

Under the leadership of Environment Minister Fabio Arjona, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development implemented a strategy to expedite the review of pending requests, some of which had been stalled since 2022. With this addition, Colombia has reached a total of 13.2 million hectares recognized as OECMs, representing 6.3% of the country's territory in relation to Goal 3 of the Biodiversity Action Plan. This initiative aims to support the national target of having 30% of its territory under conservation projects or protected areas by 2030.