Reserva Encenillo, Fundacion Natura, Colombia

This reserve is located in high montane forest of the Colombia Andes, designed to protect the locally important forest tree Weinmanniatomentosa (Encenillo in Spanish). The total size of the reserve is 135 ha of forest, and serves as a forest corridor in a matrix of pasture, potato, and remnant forest landscape.

Approximately 2-3 ha of degraded pasture were planted with Alnus acuminata in 2007. Alnus is planted in rows with approximately 3 meter spacing. Trees average mean annual increment is 1.35 cm at breast height, which is an average growth for the region; however, many trees had multiple stems, so total biomass is even larger.

Reserve managers and volunteers continue to enrichment plant other areas of the reserve with various native species common to the montane region; planting is financed from corporate and volunteer donations. The Encenillo reserve is located less than 1 hour from Bogota and is open to the public for education and visits.

Fundacion Natura is a national NGO in Colombia involved in numerous conservation projects in the Andes region.