Local jobs conserving biodiversity in the heart of the Colombian Amazon

40 years ago, Cristian Castañeda's parents arrived in the municipality of Calamar in the department of Guaviare, Colombia, in search of job opportunities and better life conditions.  Cristian had the opportunity to study Agricultural Business Administration while his parents began their participation in the Forest Conservation and Sustainability in the Heart of the Amazon project, financed by the GEF under the supervision and technical assistance of the World Bank and as part of the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program.

Advancing the project's goal of improving governance and promoting sustainable land use activities to reduce deforestation and conserve biodiversity, Cristian's parents signed conservation, restoration, and non-deforestation agreements. Cristian returned home inspired by his parents' work, and since 2021 he has been part of the project team, offering technical assistance to other families like his.

Fortunately, Cristian is not an exception. The project, through its implementation mechanisms, directly involves community, indigenous and non-indigenous leaders as team members or local service providers. These groups of people have served as local facilitators, field assistants, traditional knowledge holder, technical experts in forest use, biodiversity monitors and watchmen, as well as cooks and drivers in the territory. Their knowledge of the territory and the trust they have built with local communities have been key to advancing this approach and the project.

Under this mechanism, the technical and administrative capacity remains in the territory. The project is enriched by experts who have knowledge of the local context and enjoy the trust of the communities. In total since 2016, 2,822 people have been hired to join the project team. The modalities of recruitment and remuneration are adjusted to the nature of each role and responsibility, but thanks to the project, the supply and capacity in the local labor market has increased, as well as income sources for the communities.

In Cristian's words, the experience "has been much easier for me because I grew up in the countryside, and the connection and familiarity with the people generates a lot of trust when entering the territory."

Cristian started as a local facilitator, then was promoted to technical support professional, and is now the lead professional in the restoration process in the Charras Boquerón area in the department of Guaviare. For Cristian, "It has been a wonderful and enriching experience, as it has allowed me to gain experience, improve my professional skills and be able to contribute both to the objectives and goals of the project and to the restoration."

This mechanism has also expanded opportunities for women in the project, recognizing their distinct roles in biodiversity conservation. Of the total number of people employed, almost a third have been women.  They have become an example for others in the region, as mentioned by Maria de los Ángeles Cadena Tovar, local facilitator for the implementation of the management plan of the Miraflores Picachos Park. "This project has allowed women in the area to also feel supported because before it was mostly men the first to be hired for field work with long walks. Right now, seeing that women are hired for these tasks and that we can do them, gives more personal security to women in the area. They realize that nothing is impossible, that everything in life can be done."

Diversity has also been intergenerational. As is to be expected in this type of work, a high percentage of employees are young people between 20-39 years old (36.7%). Adults between 40-59 years old with experience in the field and relationships with the communities have also come to constitute the majority (42.2%). The project has also offered employment to a group of elderly people, over 60 years of age (19.7%) who have become fishery and wildlife monitors, transmitters of ancestral knowledge and providers of technical support. The rest of the contracted population is in the range of 16 to 19 years, which represents 0.5%, and 0.85% of people are those whose age could not be determined. 

The project has made an important effort to train and educate those it has hired, and in many cases, has managed to combine new techniques and tools with local traditional knowledge. This is the case for Ricardo Medina Perez, a Piapoco indigenous man who participates in the project as a fishing monitor in the Estrella Fluvial de Inírida wetland. As Ricardo explains, "We have carried knowledge in our memory and it has always been transmitted orally in all generations, but today, after we learned to write it down, we have 108 species [of fish] identified in the registry."

The World Bank has also learned and improved with this experience. Thanks to technical knowledge, flexibility and innovation, special procedures have been established allowing, within relevant policies, the selection and hiring of these new employees, sometimes harmonizing with traditional indigenous procedures. This learning has served as an example for other projects.

Since 2015, the Heart of the Amazon project has been executed by the Natural Heritage Fund in partnership with the entities of the Colombian National Environmental System (SINA) with jurisdiction in the territory, under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, National Natural Parks of Colombia, the Sinchi Amazon Research Institute, the Institute of Hydrology,  Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Southern Amazon (CORPOAMAZONIA) and the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the North and East Amazon (CDA).

The project’s commitment and achievements around biodiversity conservation  and sustainable development have generated local employment -in addition to 18 thousand direct beneficiaries-, with an investment in the last nine years of $11,000 million Colombian pesos, approximately US$ 3 million at the exchange rate of December 2025, and corresponding to 11% of the amount executed to date. The money used to cover the fees or remuneration of the employees has been an investment for the territory, to build social capital and give a better life to Cristian, Maria de los Ángeles, Ricardo and all those who accompany them.