Black and Gold Tanager © ProAves

Park guard in the Las Tangaras Reserve © ProAves

Crystal frog © ProAves

October 2, 2014

Rainforest Trust’s local partner ProAves purchased a key property located in the municipality of Carmen de Atrato in the lowlands of Colombia’s Chocó department. Playa Larga is comprised of 1,772 acres of tropical rainforest and neighbors the Las Tangaras Nature Reserve, that protects almost 8,000 acres of Chocó cloud forests located on the western flank of Colombia’s Western Cordillera.

Playa Larga helps form the core of a large conservation corridor comprised of a mosaic of protected areas, including three ProAves reserves, two Emberá indigenous reserves, and a proposed regional park that would, in total, conserve approximately 346,000 acres of forests.

ProAves is establishing this conservation corridor as means to protect habitat and ensure the survival of over 230 species of birds, including the Endangered Gold-ringed Tanager, the Rose-faced Parrot, and 13 endemic species which are found nowhere else in the world.

Other imperiled species found in Playa Larga include the endangered Baird’s Tapir and the critically endangered Red-banded Poison Frog.

The lowland Chocó rainforest faces many threats, including mining and logging. The acquisition of this property, however, will help ensure its protection not only for many wildlife species, but also for the indigenous Emberá communities that inhabit the reservations in the area.

The presence of Emberá reservations gives ProAves the opportunity to create alliances with these communities and to develop sustainable initiatives to promote conservation in the Chocó.

“Rainforest Trust was delighted to support this strategic property purchase which is pivotal for assisting ProAves to realizing their goal of creating a larger conservation corridor critical for the survival of bird, mammal, and amphibian species alike,” said Christine Hodgdon, International Conservation Manager for Rainforest Trust.

Rainforest Trust helped establish the Las Tangaras Reserve in 2012.

The purchase was completed in cooperation with World Land Trust. A special thanks is also due to Luanne Lemmer and Eric Veach as well as Robert and Ana Giles for their invaluable support.