Chingaza National Natural Park and surroundings (14434)
Colombia, South America

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1b, A1e, B1, B2

Year of last assessment: 2023

National site name: Parque Nacional Natural Chingaza y alrededores

Central coordinates: Latitude: 4.3432, Longitude: -73.4479

System: terrestrial, freshwater

Elevation (m): 800 to 4020

Area of KBA (km²): 774.100176

Protected area coverage (%): 99.95

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: Chingaza National Natural Park is located east of the city of Bogotá, in the jurisdiction of ten municipalities in the departments of Cundinamarca and Meta. For the most part, it is a high Andean zone with an enormous wealth of water resources. In addition to supplying water to the cities of Bogotá and Villavicencio, the streams and creeks that originate there feed the Magdalena and Orinoco river basins. Four different biomes can be recognized within the park due to differences in their physiography, elevation above sea level, and climate: hygrophytic forests with a cold thermal floor, hygrophytic forests with a temperate floor, sub-paramo, and páramo (Castaño-Uribe and Cano 1998). Currently, about 91% of its surface is covered by natural ecosystems (Rodríguez-N. et al. 2004). UAESPNN is in charge of the park's administration; however, other entities such as Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá, Fundación ProAves, Universidad de los Andes, Asociación Bogotana de Ornitología, and Fundación Natura, among others, have carried out research and conservation efforts during the last 20 years. Adjacent to the park is the Carpanta Biological Reserve, a place that served for more than 10 years as a research center for the fauna and flora of high Andean ecosystems and was managed by Fundación Natura.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This ares it's important for the conservation of 19 species that triggered some KBA criteria. 5 amphibians triggered A1b, A1e and B2 criteria; 5 birds species triggered only B2 criteria and 9 plants triggered A1a, A1b, B1 and B2 criteria

Additional biodiversity: To date, 531 bird species have been recorded: Six species present in the park are endemic to Colombia, 14 near endemic, one (Vultur gryphus) critically endangered, six endangered, four vulnerable, three near threatened, and 37 migratory (34 boreales, 3 austral) (Linares Romero L G, Orlando A, Avellaneda F, Cortés-Herrera O, Cuervo A, Galindo-Tarazona R, Hernández D, Pérez-Peña S, Pulido Á R, Pulido-Santacruz P, Seeholzer G, Sierra -Buitrago M D S, Soto-Patiño J, Laverde O, Santana Martinez D M (2019). Birds of the Chingaza National Natural Park and buffer zone, Eastern Andes Mountains, Colombia. Version 4.1. National Natural Parks of Colombia. Checklist dataset https ://doi.org/10.15472/icidip accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-08-15). Other groups recorded at the KBA include the record of Tremarctos ornatus (VU), Tapirus pinchaque (EN) and Odocoileus virginianus (Castaño-Uribe and Cano 1998); Atelopus lozanoi (CR) and Atelopus muisca (CR) (Rueda-Almonacid et al. 2004); Espeletia uribei (E. Calderón et al., in litt.).

Manageability of the site: The management of this KBA is carried out by National Natural Parks, as it is a public protected area.

Delineation rationale: The limits of this KBA correspond to the limits of the Chingaza National Natural Park

Habitats

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Shrubland	10	Unknown
Wetlands(Inland)	60	Wetlands (inland) – Seasonal/intermittent/irregular rivers/streams/creeks
Forest	20	Forest – Subtropical/tropical moist montane
Artificial - Aquatic	10	Rural Gardens

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The main threats are the reduction in land management, the intensification and expansion of agriculture, and selective logging. Similarly, the construction of works aimed at optimizing the water supply service in cities such as Bogotá and Villavicencio may pose some degree of risk to the ecosystem. Feral dogs pose problems within the park, and there are also records of invasive species such as trout and broom.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting	Intentional use: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is the target) [harvest]	Ongoing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching	Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Ongoing
Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Named species	Ongoing

Additional information