Overview

The Department of Magdalena features parts of the world-renowned Sierra Nevada National Park. The multi-stakeholder partnership in Magdalena includes the municipalities of Zona Bananera, Cienaga, Aracataca and Fundación, a total area of 448.397 hectares. Approximately 21% of this belongs to National Park Sierra Nevada, which provides  good opportunities for conservation and the development of strategies for sustainable production. It is estmitaed that 15.7% of the area should be designated to conservation, 63,8% has potential for agroforestry and protection, and 18% for agriculture. The area has 69.424 hectares of native forest.

Main commodities of this territory are banana and palm oil, with 10.786 hectares and 20.280 hectares of planted area respectively. Other commodities produced in the zone are coffee, mango, maize and yucca. These products have provided  opportunities for smallholders to improve household income. The Department of Magdalena counts as one of the most important ports of Colombia, mobilising around 2.777.953 tons in exportations that includes products like banana, palm oil, and coffee among others. This port provides a competitive advantage to the PPI of Magdalena in terms of infrastructure and development.

Some initiatives, developed in the region during the last few years, have strengthened the articulation among actors in the territory. Mainly those initiatives have been linked to the water management, one of those being the water stewardship collective action led by WWF. This gathers different actors in the basin and water resources conservation. Other partners working on sustainable agricultural practices and watersheds protection are Fedeplama, The Embassy of The Netherlands, FAO, and The Embassy of the United Kingdom, among others.

Learn more about the PPI approach in Colombia here.