Serranía de los Paraguas

This part of the Cordillera Occidental lies on the limits of departments Chocó and Valle del Cauca, near the town of El Cairo. It is well known for its remarkable bird and flowering plant diversity, but its fern flora remains little known. We stayed and worked on the Reserva Natural Comunitaria Cerro El Inglés, which is situated in the southwestern corner of the Serranía. This work would not have been possible except for the support of the Serraniagua, the community organization that supports this reserve and other initiatives in the area.

Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá

Sitting at the confluence of the departments of Risaralda, Chocó, and Valle del Cauca, Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá straddles the high peaks of the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes. Much of the western half of the park, which grades into middle elevation forests in Dept. Chocó remains nearly unexplored and was beyond our reach for this trip. We entered the park from the two principal routes: first from Planes of San Rafael, situated just northwest of Santuario, then from the Camino Montezuma, just outside of Pueblo Rico, a modestly sized town that serves as the gateway to the río San Juan and the extensive lowland forests of Dept. Chocó. Despite their proximity, these two sites are home to remarkably distinct fern floras, showing just how quickly plant communities turn over in this hyperdiverse region.

We are thankful to the staff of Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia for their support of our work here.

Peque

Peque is a small town located in the northern Urabá region of Dept. Antioquia, just south of Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo and the border with Dept. Córdoba. Situated at the farthest northwestern stretch of the Andes, this region has remained poorly explored compared to many other parts of Dept. Antioquia, despite its interesting geographic position. Here, we mostly collected in remnant secondary forest that persists on incredibly steep slopes near the edge of Parque Paramillo. Though fern diversity here was a bit lower than in the sites we visited earlier in our trip, the flora was rather distinct, meaning lots of interesting plants awaited us, including several that are likely yet unknown to science.

This trip would not have been possible without the help of Ubeimar Arango, who accompanied us throughout our time in Peque and seemed to know everyone in the town. Thanks, Ubeimar!