Fundación Pro-Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (FPSN) is a Colombian nonprofit organization establishe d in 1986 to seek alternative solutions to the degradation of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and improve the lives of its inhabitants.  FPSN does this by supporting sustainable development, understood as the harmonization of human welfare, cultural diversity and vitality of ecosystems for pres ent  and futur e  generations. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, declared as a “Man and  Biosphere Reserve” by UNESCO, is an isolated mountain range reaching an altitude of 19,000 feet above sea level located just 26 miles from the Caribbean coast.  The Sierra Nevada is the world's highest coastal peak and contains examples of all of the cli matic zones that can be found in the tropical Americas.  

FPSN works in a participatory manner with indigenous and peasant communities, government and non-government agencies, the academic sector and representatives of the private sector and industry that have supported the process of identifying and analyzing the causes and effects of environmental degradation in the Sierra Nevada and formulating viable solutions.

FPSN’s program brings together a set of unified projects that contribute to the sustainable development of the Sierra Nevada and the search for peaceful solutions to the social conflicts that occur in this region. The program contains three strategic components:

(i) Knowledge, the generation and dissemination of effective and efficient management practices;

(ii) Organization, the strengthening of local organizat

ions and regional entities in order to create a collaborative network for the sustainable development of the Sierra; and

(iii) Management, the implementation of collaborative management plans and sustainable development pilot projects.

The broad environmental objective of FPSN’s program is to conserve, restore and sustainably use the singular and heterogeneous mosaic of globally important tropical ecosystems of the eco-region Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.  This objective is underpinned by the simultaneous generation of local ecological, social and economic benefits and support for the traditional ancestral management of the indigenous groups in their territories, which have demonstrated their effectiveness.

FPSN seeks support is for its project “Enlarging Forest Blocks as a Strategy for Mitigating Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta,” which aims to increase the largest blocks of forest of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which are as follows:

• Palomino-Don Diego-Guachaca-Buritaca-San Lorenzo-Rio Cordoba with 126,257 hectares
• Tucurinca-Nabusímake with 65,706 hectares
• Rio Jeréz-Alto Rio Curual-Rio Tapias-Cabecera del Rancheria with 26,620 hectares
• Parque Tayrona with 17,566 hectares 
• Rio San Salvador-Rio San Miguel with 15,615 hectares
• Cabeceras del Rio Donachuí with 13,170 hectares
• Loma de los Bañaderos with 11,776 hectares