Bogotá Approved for a Water Source Protection Project Worth Over 145 Billion Pesos

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 28, the water resilience project for Bogotá and its surrounding areas in Colombia was approved by the United Nations Green Climate Fund and will receive more than 145 billion Colombian pesos in funding to protect and restore high-mountain ecosystems such as Chingaza, Sumapaz, and Guerrero, as well as the water source areas in the upper reaches of the Bogotá River; the Bogotá municipal government also plans to contribute approximately 60 billion pesos in matching funds.

The project plans to restore 2,032 hectares of high-mountain grassland and Andean high-mountain forest, promote climate-adaptive production methods on 2,409 hectares across 1,248 farms, and improve the water-saving capacity of 40 community water supply systems. The matching funds will also be used to support at least 650 landowners in implementing ecological protection incentives on 4,756 hectares of key water source protection areas.

Bogotá's existing payment for water environmental services program already covers approximately 5,780 hectares of strategic water source protection areas and has established protection agreements with 175 rural households and landowners. The municipal government plans to expand the area covered by such agreements to 12,000 hectares by the end of 2027, including Bogotá's rural areas and the municipalities of Cundinamarca such as Fómeque, Guasca, La Calera, and Guatavita.

Existing agreements are mainly used for the protection, ecological restoration, and adjustment of agricultural production methods in water conservation areas, forests, springs, and riverside areas. In 2026, the reference standard for payment for water environmental services in Bogotá's rural areas is approximately 2.425 million pesos per hectare per year; some areas of Cundinamarca may also receive additional subsidies based on ecological restoration measures.