Last updated: September 2024
The Olaya Herrera neighbourhood in Cartagena has been the focus of a series of projects that involve ecological restoration, environmental education, and community resilience building. These initiatives have centred around the restoration of the Ciénaga de la Virgen, an ecologically significant but heavily degraded coastal wetland bordering the neighbourhood. The primary goals of the projects in Olaya Herrera include the restoration of degraded mangrove ecosystems, mitigation of flooding and water pollution, strengthening community participation in environmental management, and promoting sustainable urban environments (ref 1, 2). The project is led by the EPA Cartagena, which coordinates actions such as collecting solid waste, planting timber trees and ornamental plants, and restoring green spaces that had become informal dumping grounds (ref 1). It also includes a community-led initiative called Los Guardabosques de Olaya that focuses on reforestation and environmental stewardship, it involves children, youth, and local mothers in reforesting mangrove areas around the Ciénaga de la Virgen. The community has established a mangrove nursery and employs innovative waste management practices, such as installing traps in canals to prevent solid waste from entering the Ciénaga (ref 2). The project also involves the private sector in 2022, the EPA led a campaign with local companies like Konfirma, Acuacar, and Pacaribe that focused on improving environmental health through the removal of 10 cubic meters of waste, promoting healthy living environments and fostering community participation in environmental monitoring and waste management practices (ref 4). Also, in collaboration with community leaders and local companies, the ANDI-TRASO Alliance supports large-scale reforestation and restoration activities in the southern parts of the Ciénaga de la Virgen adjacent to Olaya Herrera. The alliance plans to plant 40,000 mangrove seedlings (ref 6).
Brandon in the conditioning area of the nursery.
https://www.eluniversal.com.co/cartagena/2024/06/01/los-guardabosques-de-olaya-que-quieren-reforestar-la-cienaga-de-la-virgen/
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Coastlines
- Mangroves
- Parks and urban forests
- Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Key challenges
- Coastal resilience and marine protection (SDG 14)
- Coastal protection / hazard mitigation
- Marine and coastal biodiversity protection
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Waste management
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Flood protection
- Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
- Inclusive governance
- Effective management
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social cohesion
- Environmental education
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Coastal flooding
- Environmental Degradation
- Deforestation and forest degradation
- Poor water quality
- Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
- Disconnection from nature
Key priorities
Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)
Focus
Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Ecological restoration of existing green spaces, Restoration of mangroves, Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Educational and awareness raising programs
Project objectives
- Restore the ecosystem's health and support community-driven ecological stewardship (ref 2, 6)
- Reforest mangroves to improve air quality, prevent flooding and protect them from strong winds (ref 2)
- Mitigate the contamination of the swamp through environmental training (ref 2)
- Minimize the negative environmental impact that the poor disposal of garbage and solid waste has on the ecosystem (ref 4)
- Provide economic opportunities and strengthen social cohesion through environmental initiatives (ref 2, 6).
- Strengthening of the social fabric of the community (ref 2)
- Enhance community participation strategies in the formulation, development, implementation, monitoring, and control of projects according to current techniques and regulations and the needs of the community in its social context. (ref 4)
Implementation activities
- Solid waste collection by the Pacaribe sanitation consortium (ref 1)
- Planting 17 new timber trees and 150 ornamental trees, and the beginning of the recovery of other elements of the park and another piece of land in the sector, which was being converted into a satellite garbage dump. (ref 1)
- Implementation of a solid waste 'trap' in the sector, which consists of a mesh that was installed in a channel in order to prevent garbage from reaching the cienaga (ref 2)
- Creation of a nursery in which mangroves are planted. “We have already planted with the support of public and private entities. Now we are working on 3,500 seedlings,” (ref 2)
- With the participation of the ANDI - TRASO alliance, community leaders, the Mangrove Forest Foundation and the coordination of the Environmental Public Establishment (EPA Cartagena), reforestation and ecological restoration actions were carried out in the Cienega (ref 5)
- Meetings organized by the EPA Cartagena to present the initiatives present in the neighborhood, so public, private and civil society organizations that carry out mangrove ecosystem recovery actions can learn lessons, replicate and even expand their actions in urban and rural territories (ref 3).
- Organisation of clean-up and environmental education sessions (ref 4)
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes
Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities
Low-income neighborhoods, Coastal communities, Minority or marginalized ethnic groups
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Restore native species
- Public engagement
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
- Coastal-dependent communities (e.g. small-scale fishers, coastal farmers, and indigenous peoples)
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Taskforce groups
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
EPA Cartagena is the primary government entity leading the project. It organizes and oversees various environmental restoration and community engagement activities, such as tree planting, waste management campaigns, and environmental education (ref 1, 3, 4).
Other entities have joined these activities, including schools, Pacaribe, Acuacar, Fire Department, Public Space and Mobility Management, Metropolitan Police of Cartagena, Environmental Police, companies like Grupo Aje, School of Government and Leadership, Aviatur – AvianCaribean, Cotelco, Asotelca, Reciclalatam, Environmental Guard, Ambientados, Corporeciclobol, Agua Cielo, IDER, and the Community Action Boards, foundations like Colectivo traso among others (ref 1).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Hector Tavera opened the activity from the Ministry of Environment, which announced the entry into force of Law 2243 of 2022, which requires territorial entities to undertake actions for the conservation and restoration of mangrove ecosystems and prohibits changes in their land use, among other aspects. (ref 3))
Type of enablers
Capacity-building projects, Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships)
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- Corporate investment
- Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Environmental quality
- Improved waste management
- Expected improved waste management
- Water management and blue areas
- Improved water quality
- Achieved improved water quality
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Achieved increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
Economic impacts
- Generation of income from NBS
- Achieved generation of income from NBS
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Education
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Achieved increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
EPA cartagena (2024). EPA Cartagena y otras entidades distritales se toman sector Ricaurte de Olaya Herrera para recuperación ambiental de zonas degradadas.. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
2.
El Universal (2024). Los guardabosques de Olaya que quieren reforestar la ciénaga de La Virgen. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
3.
EPA Cartagena (2022). EPA realizó II Encuentro a lo Bien por la Ciénaga El Manglar como transformador de vida. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
4.
EPA Cartagena (2023). EPA Cartagena promueve entornos saludables en barrio Olaya Herrera. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Colectivo TRASO (2023). Alianza ANDI - TRASO participa en jornada de restauración ecológica en la Ciénaga de la Virgen. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
6.
EPA Cartagena (2024). EPA CARTAGENA CUMPLE CON MEJORAS DEL ENTORNO AMBIENTAL DE LA INSTITUCIÓN EDUCATIVA SAN FELIPE NERI. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
7.
El Tiempo (2023). Así es el barrio más peligroso de Cartagena que triplica la tasa nacional de homicidios. Accessed on September 4, 2024, [Source link];
8.
EPA Cartagena (2021). Facebook post. Accessed on September 11, 2024, [Source link];
planting in the cienaga
https://colectivotraso.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ALIANZ3.jpe
clean-up of solid waste
https://epacartagena.gov.co/web/epa-cartagena-promueve-entornos-saludables-en-barrio-olaya-herrera/
planting activitity in the neighborhood
https://epacartagena.gov.co/web/epa-cartagena-y-otras-entidades-distritales-se-toman-sector-ricaurte-de-olaya-herrera-para-recuperacion-ambiental-de-zonas-degradadas/
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.