Restoring urban wetlands with Nature-based solutions in Soacha, Colombia
By Sebastián Oyola and Carolina Figueroa, February 2, 2024
February 2 marked World Wetlands Day, celebrating an invaluable type of ecosystem that hosts unique biodiversity and provides a wide range of vital benefits for society and nature. Both in cities and rural areas, wetlands help regulate and purify water, control flooding, and serve as habitat for a diversity of birds, insects, mammals, and plants.
Despite their value, wetlands face significant threats due to rapid population growth, accelerated urbanization, pollution, and climate change. These threats have led to alarming wetland loss and degradation, posing a danger to biodiversity, to the communities that depend on them for their livelihoods, and to many others farther away who benefit — often unknowingly — from their role in flood regulation.
SELVAR is proud to be part of such an important process as the restoration of the Santa Ana Wetland in Soacha, Colombia, in collaboration with Grupo HTM, the Soacha mayor’s office, and local residents. As part of the project “Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Resilience in Colombia,” funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI, by its German acronym), we worked to strengthen climate resilience by integrating Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) into urban planning, using the guide of the same name written by SELVAR’s director.
Photo: SELVAR, December 2023. Implementation process for nature-based solutions at the Santa Ana wetland, Soacha, Colombia. Project implemented by Grupo HTM and SELVAR, with the support of IKI Small Grants.
The Santa Ana Wetland, located in Comuna 1 of Soacha, is an oasis of life facing significant challenges due to accelerated urbanization, pollution, and insecurity. Thanks to the leadership of all the project’s partners, we have made tangible progress in restoring this important ecosystem. Various stakeholders have joined this effort, including the Quintas de Santa Ana Community Action Board, the Municipal Mayor’s Office, the National Army, the Cundinamarca Regional Autonomous Corporation (CAR), Red Cross volunteers, the organization Caminando el Territorio, and the waste collection company Urbaser.
From identifying priority areas to implementing nature-based solutions, this project exemplifies the power of collaboration to protect and revitalize urban wetlands. Through a co-design process with local residents and on-the-ground support from all partners, the project restored a section of the wetland to generate multiple benefits: recovering the wetland’s open water area, restoring it with native species, creating rain gardens, and building a trail for contemplation, enjoyment, and wellbeing — all with the community’s ongoing involvement and care. Since these measures were implemented around November 2023, there has been a noticeable improvement in the wetland’s condition. Despite the dry season, the wetland’s water body has grown, along with an increase in bird visits, and the community continues to hold regular watering sessions for the planted trees.
As we celebrate World Wetlands Day, let us remember that conserving and restoring these valuable ecosystems is not only an environmental responsibility, but also an opportunity to promote sustainability and human wellbeing.
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