Last updated: April 2025
The Ciénaga de la Virgen is a coastal wetland (cienaga) located on the north side of the border of the city of Cartagena, separated from the sea by La Boquilla's sandy beach. It has a maximum width of 4.5 km, a length of approximately 7 km, a water body area of about 22.5 km², and depths of up to 1.6 m. It is connected to the city's canal system (ref 1). The recovery project of la Cienaga de la Virgen, led by EPA Cartagena, is proposed as a strategy to address the issues affecting the water body, local communities, the economic activities that depend on it, and the ecosystems that regulate the water cycle and provide multiple services, many of them essential, with an integrated and global management approach based on the basin as the unit for planning and resource management (ref 14). Some of the main problems of the wetland are related to illegal settlements on its shore, as well as illicit dumping of waste, pollution by wastewater from the illegal settlements and deforestation of mangroves (ref 4). Key activities include stopping illegal occupation by relocating established families, improving roads, promoting reforestation, encouraging social participation, managing wastewater, and enhancing tidal systems (ref. 1 and 15). Alonside the EPA, other stakeholders involved include the regional authority "Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Canal del Dique" (Cardique), with jurisdiction in the rural area, and Cartagena Mayor's Office, and the local community, involved in all the stages of the plan thanks to the “mesas de governance” or "governance tables", discussion spaces where different actors participate in the decision-making (ref 2).
cleaning and land recovery activities
EPA Cartagena
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Coastal wetland, mangroves and salt marshes
- Mangroves
Key challenges
- Environmental quality
- Waste management
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Regulation of built environment
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Improvements to water quality
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social cohesion
- Environmental education
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Environmental Degradation
- Deforestation and forest degradation
- Poor water quality
- Resource Scarcity and Competition
- Land rights conflicts
Key priorities
Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)
Focus
Coastal landscape management or protection, Coastal ecosystems restoration and maintenance (mangroves, dunes, saltplains, underwater meadows), Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Restoration of mangroves
Project objectives
The overarching goal of the project is to plan the processes of transformation and recovery of the Ciénaga and the surrounding urban and expanding areas through:
- The proper management of the area to improve its hydrodynamic conditions, in coordination with the Cartagena Master Plan for Basic Sanitation, the Master Plan for Rainwater Drainage, and the Bocana Stabilised Tide Project.
- Prevent further water deterioration and reduce flood risks for the population settled along the lagoon's edge.
- Enhance habitat improvement for the marginalised population settled in the Ciénaga de la Virgen.
- Plan a future city that protects and revitalises Ciénaga de la Virgen, leveraging its ecological and scenic value. (ref 3)
- Prioritise environmental restoration and the relocation of the population illegally settled (ref 2.)
- Strengthening community participation in the environmental recovery of invaded areas (ref 2.)
Implementation activities
- Environmental restoration and the relocation of the population settled in the parallel strip and low-tide area are mandatory. Additionally, the implementation of provisional works is necessary to prevent the reoccupation of recovered spaces, including the restoration of water systems, and the recovery of vegetation in the liberated areas.
- Strengthening community participation in the environmental recovery of invaded areas.
- Reducing and preventing pollution in the Ciénaga de la Virgen, with actions for wastewater management, measures to eliminate and prevent illegal discharges, solid waste management, drainage management for rainwater that flows into the swamp, and the design and implementation of solutions to retain sediments and waste in the channels at the discharge points into the Ciénaga de la Virgen.
- Ensure the proper operation of the La Bocana tidal stabilization system, which includes dredging and clearing in areas of the swamp and continuing actions that other entities have been developing in this body of water, as well as those planned for the future, such as the implementation of the macro-project Parque Distrital Ciénaga de la Virgen.
- Focus on environmental education processes, which include coordinating training actions related to community strengthening processes, emphasizing the importance of swamps and natural resources, managing nursery facilities, and creating training groups for the development of green businesses.
(ref 2).
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes
Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities
Low-income neighborhoods, Coastal communities, Informal settlements or slums
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore ecological connectivity
- Public engagement
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Private sector/Corporate/Company
- Citizens or community groups
- Marginalized groups: Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed), Homeless people & people living in informal settlements, Disadvantaged ethnic or racial groups, Vulnerable populations in disaster-prone areas
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)
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
- Co-management/Joint management
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The EPA Cartagena presented the master plan for the recovery of the Ciénaga de la Virgen to civic leaders and district authorities. EPA Cartagena launched the "Governance Table: A Pact for the Ciénaga de la Virgen," a platform where government entities, private organizations, community actors, academia, environmental NGOs, and other stakeholders with an interest in improving this body of water come together, is one of the leading suggestions from the EPA to initiate the plan for its recovery. This table consisted of approximately 100 participants, including officials, community leaders, private sector delegates, and others, who gathered to discuss the situation of the Ciénaga de la Virgen and agree on some joint actions to restore this important body of water in the city (ref 2).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Yes
(Watershed management plan (ref 9).)
... a national policy or strategy?
No
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Ordinance plan (ref 3))
Type of enablers
Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships)
Financing
Total cost
More than €4,000,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- Public regional budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Environmental quality
- Improved waste management
- Expected improved waste management
- Water management and blue areas
- Improved water quality
- Expected improved water quality
- Increased protection against flooding
- Expected increased protection against flooding
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Expected increased green space area
- Increased number of protection areas
- Expected increased number of protection areas
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Expected increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
Economic impacts
- More sustainable tourism
- Expected more sustainable tourism
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Achieved increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Education
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Expected increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Safety
- Improved community safety to climate-related hazards
- Expected improved community safety to climate-related hazards
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Social justice and conflicts, Displacement of vulnerable or marginalized communities
References
1.
EPA Cartagena (2015). CIÉNAGA DE LA VIRGEN. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
2.
EPA Cartagena (2022). EPA PRESENTA PLAN MAESTRO PARA RECUPERAR CIÉNAGA DE LA VIRGEN.. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Ambiente Urbano (2013). Recuperación Ambiental de la Ciénaga de la Virgen: Reto Cumplido. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Chica-Mejía, Juan Eduardo, Jairo Eduardo Galvis-Bonilla, Diana María Blanco Ramirez, and Claudia Alejandra Villamil-Mejia. (2022). Desarrollo urbano y marginalización espacial en Cartagena de Indias. El borde urbano de la Ciénaga de la Virgen como caso de estudio. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Calidris Bird Life (n.d.). Ciénaga de La Virgen: Humedal Vulnerable de Extinción. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Aguas de Cartagena (n.d.). Ciénaga de La Virgen: Humedal Vulnerable de Extinción. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Cartagena Mayor's Office (2024). EPA Cartagena y Guardia Ambiental unidos por la recuperación de la Ciénaga de la Virgen. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
8.
Caracol radio (2021). Proyecto Parque Ciénaga de la Virgen culminó mesas con comunidades. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
9.
EPA Cartagena (2016). PROYECTO PARQUE DISTRITAL CIÉNAGA DE LA VIRGEN. Accessed on August 12, 2024, [Source link];
10.
El Tiempo (2023). Alcalde entrante de Cartagena tendrá presupuesto histórico de $3.4 billones para 2024. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
11.
EPA Cartagena (2023). Sigue recuperación de zonas invadidas en la Ciénaga de la Virgen. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
12.
EPA Cartagena (2023). Sigue siembra masiva de mangles en la ciénaga de la virgen.. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
13.
EPA Cartagena (2015). FORMULACIÓN PROYECTO PILOTO VIVERO FORESTAL. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
14.
EPA Cartagena (2022). SISTEMA DE GESTIÓN HÍDRICA DE LA CIÉNAGA DE LA VIRGEN. Accessed on August 22, 2024, [Source link];
15.
El Tiempo (2017). Consejo de Estado ordenó reubicar a 500 familias en Cartagena. Accessed on August 22, 2024, [Source link];
16.
EPA Cartagena (2023). CUERPO DE GUARDIAS AMBIENTALES DE COLOMBIA Y DE LA PAZ.. Accessed on August 22, 2024, [Source link];
planting session
EPA Cartagena
nurseries for Cienaga de la Virgen
EPA Cartagena
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.