Who we are

The project “Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation into the Tourism Sector of Protected Areas and Strategic Ecosystems of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina Islands” is an initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), led by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia (MinAmbiente) and WWF as implementing agencies, with Conservation International and CORALINA as co-executing agencies.

The project’s strategic partners include the Government of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, the Municipality of Providencia and Santa Catalina, the Vice Ministry of Tourism, National Natural Parks of Colombia, and Awake Travel. This initiative is developed in close coordination with various local, institutional, and community stakeholders of the Archipelago. The project supports Colombia’s international commitments to integrate biodiversity conservation into key productive sectors, such as tourism.

Specific objectives

1. Strengthen the institutional, regulatory, and technical planning framework for tourism focused on biodiversity and the restoration of ecosystem services.

2. Implement measures to manage the impacts of tourism on key biodiversity within the Marine Protected Area (MPA), Protected Areas (PAs), and the three islands.

3. Integrate biodiversity conservation into the innovative development of local coastal and marine tourism in the Marine Protected Areas, Protected Areas, and across the three islands.

4. To strengthen monitoring and evaluation processes, promote awareness raising, and enhance knowledge management to support informed decision-making and sustainable tourism practices in the Archipelago.