Protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

Target 11.4: Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

The Canaima National Park

Canaima National Park is spread over 3 million ha in south-eastern Venezuela along the border between Guyana and Brazil. Roughly 65% of the park is covered by table mountain (tepui) formations. The tepuis constitute a unique biogeological entity and are of great geological interest. The sheer cliffs and waterfalls, including the world’s highest (1,000 m), form a spectacular landscape (UNESCO World Heritage List).

I have been involved in efforts to monitor biodiversity and environmental conditions. Using a combination of camera traps, field observations, and other technologies we have tried to track wildlife and detect ecological changes in this area (Stachowicz et al. 2020; Stachowicz et al. 2024).

Involving local communities in conservation efforts is essential. Community Engagement through education and awareness programs can help locals to find crucial links between better livelihoods and the preservation of nature and wildlife in the park (Stachowicz et al. 2020).

We have been advocating for policies that protect this natural heritage site and integrates conservation goals into national and regional planning to ensure long-term protection (Stachowicz et al. 2023). We have been seeking support from international organizations and conservation groups to provide additional resources and expertise.

I contributed to the simposium “An Insight into the Orinoco Mining Arc: its implications for Venezuela and the eastern Caribbean”, organised by the Sociedad Venezolana de Ecología at the First Latin American and Caribbean Congress for Conservation Biology in St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, 2018.

During the conference I also contributed in the preparation of the Conference Declaration.

Check my contributions to other targets!

References

Stachowicz, I., Ferrer-Paris, J. R., and Sánchez-Mercado, A. (2024), "Leveraging limited data from wildlife monitoring in a conflict affected region in venezuela" Scientific Reports, 14, 1673.

Stachowicz, I., Zambrano, V. M., Giordano, A. J., Ferrer-Paris, J. R., and Kreft, S. (2023), "Venezuela’s harmful mining activities grow" Science, 380, 6646, 699–699.

Stachowicz, I., Ferrer-Paris, J. R., Quiroga-Carmona, M., Moran, L., and Lozano, C. (2020), "Baseline for monitoring and habitat use of medium to large non-volant mammals in gran sabana, venezuela" Therya, Asociacion Mexicana de Mastozoologia, 11, 2, 169–179.