El Jardín Botánico de Cali: Un dinamizador del manejo ambiental y el desarrollo social en la ciudad

The Cali Botanical Garden is located in the middle portion of the Cali river watershed less than 10 minutes away from downtown. The Garden is administered by a non for profit Foundation, which manages a regenerated forest of 11 hectares with an diverse assemblage of local fauna and flora for the purpose of conservation and education. The proximity of the Garden to a population of over 2 million inhabitants provides an unusual opportunity to address the educational, recreational and socioeconomic needs of the local communities. In addition to the activities normally associated with a botanical garden like plant research, maintenance of live plant collections, educational activities for visitors, the CBG will advance projects and activities in a variety of subjects ranging from a water and energy interactive center, ecological regeneration and restoration, community organization and participation in the implementation of the environmental action plan of the watershed. Thus far the projects advanced by the Cali Botanical Garden include: 1) The development of educational infrastructure which includes a Visitor Center, an interpretive nature trail with 10 educational stations which highlights the uses of plants by people in terms of construction materials, food and clothing, transportation, health and beauty, arts and culture, 2) Habitat restoration in the Cali wartershed, 3) Community organization and participation for the environmental improvement of the Cali watershed, 4) Green Pass to the CBG, an invitation to underpriviledged students to a day long experience at the Garden. The CBG also operates as an environmental research station where efforts are directed toward the generation of knowledge of the plants and animals of the forest and river ecosystems. With the support of the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente about ten research projects are being advanced at the Garden, including work on the native vegetation, the birds and mammals of the tropical dry forest, the inhabitants of the river, the leaf cutting or fungus growing ants, and the species of plants which settle in areas affected by forest fires. With only one year of existence, the CBG is already showing its potential to become an important agent for environmental and cultural initiatives, both in terms of institutions as well as motivated individuals.

• Autores: Orejuela Gartner, Jorge Enrique
• Tipo de recurso: Article of journal
• Fecha de publicación: 2004
• Institución: Universidad Autónoma de Occidente
• Repositorio: RED: Repositorio Educativo Digital UAO
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:red.uao.edu.co:10614/207
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/10614/207
• Palabra clave: Jardín Botánico de Cali; Biodiversidad; Biological diversity
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Derechos Reservados - Universidad Autónoma de Occidente