Business Case in Caqueta Piedmont, Colombia
In Colombia, The Rainforest Alliance leads the Business Case initiative’s activities in Caqueta department, implementing a strategic approach to reduce deforestation and promote sustainable development in areas with high biodiversity through a joint work with the private sector, governments, Indigenous communities, and local stakeholders.
About Caqueta
Within the Caqueta department, the target area of interest is the Piedmont, with the forests in the region having ecological characteristics of both the Andes and the Amazon and high levels of biodiversity and carbon stocks.
The Piedmont encompasses several municipalities, such as San José del Fragua, Albania, Belén de los Andaquíes, Morelia, Florencia, La Montañita, El Paujíl, El Doncello, Puerto Rico, and San Vicente del Caguán.
The Piedmont encompasses regions considered key sites of interest for biological conservation and research.
The Putumayo and Caqueta rivers originate in the Piedmont which are tributaries of the all-important Amazon River, providing water down into the lowlands through predominantly continuous forests*.
There are 12 different local protected areas and two local parks (Alto Fragua Indi Wasi and Miraflores Picachos), as well as several Indigenous reserves (El Portal, Las Brisas, San Antonio del Fragua, San Miguel and Yurayaco, Altamira, Gorgona, Honduras, La Cerinda, La Esperanza, La Siberia, among others).
Indigenous managed territories exist within the landscape, representing five ethnic groups—the Uitotos, Coreguages, Paeces, Inganos and Pijaos.
*WCS Colombia | Andean-Amazon Piedmont September, 2023
The main economic activities in Caquetá are cattle production, local commerce, and agriculture.
Agricultural production is legally permitted in 148,685 ha, with land use zoning in place for livestock, cocoa, rubber, coffee, sugar cane, plantain, and non-timber forest products.
The Business Case will focus interventions in areas where there is production primarily of coffee, cacao, rubber, and sugar cane.
In the high areas of the foothills, the main threats to biodiversity and forest loss include extensive livestock farming and expansion of the agricultural frontier.
Deforestation and land use changes in the Amazon Piedmont bear great responsibility both for the fixation and emission of GHG*.
*v38n2a09.pdf (udenar.edu.co) February, 2023
Activities
To achieve Business Case goals in Caqueta, Rainforest Alliance implements the activities through four components.
|
LANDSCAPE ACTION PLAN (LAP) & ALLIANCES
 |
CONVERSATION AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION
 |
PUBLIC POLICY
 |
FINACIAL MECHANISS
 |
|---|---|---|---|
ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE
2022
The Landscape Assessment
Complete landscape assessment and validation of sustainability indicators through the LandScale system.
2023
The Landscape Action Plan
First draft of the LAP designed with participation of more than 300 people from local governments, NGOs, producer organizations and environmental authorities.
2023
Intervention Strategies
Implementation of intervention strategies to support actions in organizational and productive strengthening with a focus on ecosystem conservation.
2023
Engagement
Engagement with local authorities to Strengthen their knowledge of the landscape approach (LA) and the advantages of it to maximize the impact of sustainable and conservation practices, and to attract investment.
2023
Political Advocacy
Commitment from the Governor’s office to support the LAP and collaboratively design a PES scheme to increase the impact of the interventions at farm level in prioritized value chains.
2023
Training
86 cocoa producers trained on integrated cocoa management, good agricultural practices and best practices for cocoa improvement.
The Financial Assesment Tool
Financial assessment tool applied to five local producer organizations (coffee, sugar cane, rubber, NTFP).
Alliances for Support
Alliances with other impact investors and organizations to support financial and management capacity building in local organizations and access to working capital.
