Success Story
As a part of the Bosques Urbanos initiative in Cali, the city has been promoting the conservation, rehabilitation and restoration of vegetation cover in public and private green areas. The Guadual de Guadalupe forest, one of 21 forests participating in the program, is a 5917 sq m green area that has been managed by the communities of two residential zones in alliance with the local public institution, DAGMA (Administrative Department of Environmental Management). As a result of the commitment between the community residents and DAGMA, the El Guadual forest became part of the Bosques Urbanos strategy. The groups worked together to develop a participatory management plan for the forest and an action plan, as well as to improve the internal infrastructure of the forest. The El Guadual forest has thus become an inspiring example of community efforts to improve green spaces in urban areas.
Another project that is part of the Bosques Urbanos initiative in Cali is in the La Flora neighborhood where the community has been working to improve a forested area that had been misused by past visitors. Through the community organization Asovecinos, local residents worked with the public administration together to restrict certain activities that threated the conservation of the forest. Through a joint effort, the community planted a xerophytic garden and developed a citizen campaign to educate and inform people about the community norms of the forest. In 2020, DAGMA became involved in the project and helped design a participatory plan that would further improve the management of the forest.
