Pance
Since its settlement in the first decades of the 20th century, the Pance River has had a singular importance for the inhabitants of the city as a result of its environmental offer, especially that related to popular recreation.
Currently some 35,000 people visit the river for a weekend for the traditional "pot ride" and bathing in the river. In the same way, its channel has always provided drinking water to the inhabitants of the Corregimiento that bears its name and today, due to population growth, it has become a strategic source of drinking water_cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_ for the southern area of the city of Cali.
The first step taken by the Farallones Foundation in favor of the recovery of the flow and quality of the waters of the Pance River, was to allow thenatural regenerationof the properties with which it had the date of its constitution, as well as the old cattle pastures of the farms that it acquired over time in the area. A second step was the investigation of native forest species and floristic enrichment for la Ecological restorationof these lands.
A third step fundamental has been the entrepreneurship ofeducation campaignsawareness and environmental organization for the residents of the area and Cali, designed not only to understand the importance of conserving the aquifer, mineral, floristic, faunal and landscape wealth of the basin, but in general, to spark a positive change in their relationship with nature.
It is in this way that the Farallones Foundation has managed to convert almost all of theUpper Pance River Basinin regenerated forests, conserved and protected from invasions or exploitation activities, which include conservation areas such as:Hato Viejo, Filo de Hambre, Las Trochas, El Diamante, La Montañita, La Argentina, El Desengaño, El Tabor, El Pato, Santa Elena, La Chorrera, Quebrada Oscura, Rincones, Brasilia, Bachue and La Castellana. In them, trails were adapted, safe and resistant bridges were built, reference points were marked for environmental education, and old peasant houses were reformed, turning them into environmental research centers that have contributed to the scientific knowledge of the flora and fauna of the region. .
Many of these infrastructures were destroyed as a result of the armed conflict; the Farallones Foundation is currently working on their reconstruction.
Executed Activities
Restoration
Location of 50 threatened or endangered species in the upper-middle basin of the Pance River: maco, yuco, yolombo, mountain strawberry tree, jigua pava, jigua paragua, purple myrtle, coral myrtle, guayabo myrtle, cedar, red cedar, common oak, azúceno, cascarillo, cinchona, nervo de pata, cabuyo, corbon, guaimaro, rooster egg, achote, mill, cariseco, otobo, cedar butter, barcino, lulo de monte, red caimo, yellow rock and zurrumbo among others . Remove link read more (refugio de montana Bachué nature reserve.
Plant succession has been diversified with threatened native species on the Farallones Foundation estates (Bachué, Rincones, Las Trochas and Santa Elena, etc.)
Mixed seed stands with threatened forest species were established in the lands of Rincones, Bachue and Las Trochas.
With the execution of rural environmental restoration, conservation and training projects, the recovery and maintenance of the flow and quality of the waters of the Pance River in its middle-high part, as well as its tributaries such as the Pato River and dozens of streams, among which La Castellana and La Cristalina stand out. As a whole, today the Pance River is considered one of the best preserved rivers in Colombia.
Similarly, without scientific evaluations, the natural repopulation of the associated fauna is evident, including mammals such as the paramo tapir or the guatín and birds such as parrots and harriers.
Environmental education
Numerous community leaders from the villages have been trained: Pance – Cabecera, San Francisco, El Peón, Banqueo and Ventiaderos, among others. In the topics of plant taxonomy, characterization of seeds, collection of seeds, management of forest nurseries, phenology, planting of trees for the diversification of plant succession, knowledge of mixed forests, stands and dendroenergetics, plant succession and project formulation._cc781905 -5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_
Among the organized groups of the communities that have participated in the training, are: Mujeres el Encanto, Grupo Minga, Agroecological Committee, Gallito de Roca, Environmental Brigade, wood group, Heirs of the Planet, among others.
The Environmental Brigade andthe Ecoguides of Pance
From the beginning, the Foundation has worked with the Corregimiento community. In the 1990s the Pance Environmental Brigade was created, a grassroots organization that marked a milestone by reflecting on its ecosystem and wondering about the relationship between the river and the Caleño that has made it your favorite space for recreation.
From the Brigade emerged the Ecoguias de Pance group, one of the first in the region, made up of young people who were trained as such in informal education processes with high quality standards, around the ecological dynamics of the Andean jungle, with Emphasis on ecological restoration with threatened species, which later allowed them to boost the national Heirs of the Planet program... today they work in institutions of the environmental and social development sector.
Research Center
and Environmental Education Hato Viejo
At the end of the 80's, the old house of the Hato Viejo cattle ranch was rebuilt to receive researchers eager to learn about and explore the dynamics of the Andean forests. The first botanical scientific explorations were carried out at this site to the highest peaks of the Western Cordillera, located precisely in the Farallones de Cali at 4,100 meters above sea level.
The Hato Viejo station also served as a point of arrival for raising awareness among students, hikers and people who want to know the natural and scenic wealth of the Farallones. To facilitate this, an environmental interpretation trail was built that starts from the town of Pance, at 1,800 meters above sea level and that in 8 kilometers and crossing 7 bridges leads to the Hato Viejo nature reserve at 2,300 meters above sea level.
In 2002, the Station was burned down in the midst of the fateful acts of violence that marked the history of the region and that was exacerbated in those years as a result of the combats between the army, the FARC and the ELN. Today, the Hato Viejo Environmental Research and Education Station is being rebuilt as part of the Farallones Foundation Research Center.