Reserva Natural Yumartán
In October of 2013 the OCA donated $22,000 to purchase 99 acres of land to begin Reserva Yumartán.
Prior to funding, Peter Tobias and Steve Beckendorf, OCA directors, and Sebastian Vieira, a Colombian orchidologist from Medellin and an excellent photographer, visited the site of Reserva Yumartán.
The land has excellent orchid biodiversity. Sebastian Vieira prepared a list of the orchids found in just two days of exploring. Also see Sebastian’s excellent collection of photos from our visit to the site.
The land is protected by a Colombian conservation easement protecting the land from agricultural development, logging, or any non-conservation use in perpetuity.
The land is managed by the Fundación Buenoy Yumartán Aldea Ecologica (Fundación BYAE), or the Buenoy Yumartán Ecological Community Foundation. The foundation is led by Camilo Barrera and his wife Tania. The foundation now has two reserves, Buenoy and Yumartán. It also has about 30 members, some of whom own other private reserves.
Reserva Yumartán is located south-east of the Sibundoy Valley in the canyon of the Putumayo River in southern Colombia.
