COLOMBIA
Colombia’s president and the minister of the environment made an exciting announcement in Dubai during the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in late 2023: the establishment of the National Natural Park Serranía de Manacacías. The Nature Conservancy provided public support and financial backing in creating the country’s 61st national park. Spanning more than 168,000 acres, the park safeguards an essential wildlife corridor that connects the Orinoquia—the second-largest tropical savanna in South America—and the Amazon River basin. It is a collaboration of Colombia’s National Protected Area System and the property owners. “This unique park was created by the people. Our vision is for the community to continue being involved in the conservation of these savannas,” says William Zorro, director of the Manacacías Park.
The tropical savannas of Manacacías and Orinoquia provide an important link between the Andes and the Amazon.
NEW YORK
The Nature Conservancy in New York has opened 3.5 miles of a new shared use, sustainable trail system at Hickory Ridge Preserve in the Finger Lakes. Ultimately planned to total 13.5 miles, it will be the first multi-use trail system designed for hikers, trail runners and mountain bikers to be offered by TNC in New York. It will also bring improved sightlines and increased accessibility to a section of the 900-mile Finger Lakes Trail that runs through the preserve. Regional trail user groups and other partners joined TNC in a community planning process that informed its design and revealed a desire for a communal sense of ownership. Environmentally, the trail will reduce the amount of sediment being contributed into the headwater streams of Canandaigua Lake.
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