Welcome To
WILD Campo Alegre
The Reserve
Biodiversity
Science & Research
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“The WILD Campo Alegre Reserve is located in Colombia in the Risaralda Department between the city of Pereira to the west and the 5300 metre high Nevado del Ruiz volcano to the east. The distance between Pereira and the Ruiz volcano is approx. 40 kilometres as the crow flies.”
The aim of the project
The aim of the project is to protect and restore high altitude cloud forest (+2500 metres above sea level) near Pereira on the western side of the Central Andean Range. In December 2022, with the help of a generous grant from the Kirkbi Foundation, 731 hectares of land at an altitude of 2800- 3300 metres were purchased.
Approximately 45 % of the area consisted of open fields with cattle farming, while the rest is secondary and especially primary cloud forest. The last cattle were moved in April 2023, after which approximately 30 kilometres of barbed wire fencing was removed from the reserve. The land is directly adjacent to the cloud forest, a belt of forest that runs along the Andes and is bordered at the top by páramo vegetation (at about 3600 metres altitude). In April 2025 a long-term agreement with the local environmental authorities was signed where WCA includes a further 475 hectares in “comodato”. This area borders the reserve towards the higher mountains to the southeast, and covers primary cloud forest and páramo vegetation up to an altitude of some 4200 meters. Thus, WCA today covers +1200 hectares.
Extremely important biodiversity
The northern Andes have some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, and especially many species with a small distribution*. But biodiversity is under threat. Until 60-100 years ago, the entire area was covered in cloud forest, but now the mountainsides have been cleared to make way for dairy and beef cattle. By restoring the cloud forest, we are not only restoring animal habitats and protecting biodiversity, we are also helping to prevent soil erosion and safeguard the vital water resources created by the native vegetation that supply millions of people downstream. Our ambition is also to create corridors connecting pockets of forest to the cloud forest.
Fauna and flora
We have set up 30 wildlife camera traps that have recorded mountain tapir, puma, oncilla (‘tigrillo’), spectacled bear, little red brocket deer and many other mammals and birds. There is a large population of mountain tapir and we see tracks daily and see the animals regularly. What makes the reserve extraordinary is that it is the only place in the world where you can easily see the Fuertes’s parrot (Hapalopsittica fuertesi). There are many other bird species with a small distribution, including many species of antpitta. Cloud forest is characterised by a high abundance of epiphytes and parasitic plants. This is a relatively unexplored area which our botanical team will soon start exploring.
“Mountain tapir, photographed in the reserve through a camera trap. Photo: Camilo Botero”
Facilities
The main building of the WILD Campo Alegre Reserve underwent extensive renovation in 2023-24 and today offers 6 good-sized bedrooms, a large living room, kitchen, storage room and laboratory, hot water, internet, a wood stove etc. As of June 2024, we have two employees who carry out maintenance work, build paths, produce cuttings for our nursery and plant more forest. The reserve is located
Local environmental authorities and 250,000 cuttings
In 2023, almost 250,000 trees were planted with the help of local environmental authorities. WILD Campo Alegre has its own nursery where we are producing thousands of cuttings of native tree species. These will be used to supplement already planted areas where necessary and prepare to plant new land when we get the funds to buy more neighbouring fincas (farms). In this way, we ensure quick re-establishment of the forest with the possibility of restoring biodiversity faster.
Research
One of the major goals of the foundation is to foster a breeding ground for research in the reserve. We have a very close working relationship with UNISARC, the local university in Santa Rosa de Cabal (a town close to Pereira). But we would love to invite Danish and other foreign universities to send their students and researchers to the reserve.
Most of the land located above the reserve belongs to the authorities. This includes forest and páramo vegetation up to 4900 metres above sea level. We are in the process of making an agreement with the authorities that we will take over the administration of several of these areas so that research can be conducted in both cloud forest and páramo. In addition, we expect to expand the reserve in the future by purchasing neighbouring land (see below).
WILD Campo Alegre
Expanding the project !
Project management and operations
Christian Frimodt-Møller is the project manager for WILD Campo Alegre. He wrote his dissertation on biodiversity in the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania in 1998, but has since worked primarily in tourism, with a focus on great nature experiences.
Christian lives with his girlfriend in Pereira, speaks fluent Spanish and manages the reserve together with his team (administrator, lawyer and accountant). The project has a team of biologists who carry out baseline studies, work with the camera traps and much more.
WILD Campo Alegre
Live an unforgettable experience with nature
Some of the reviews of satisfied customers
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's .
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's .
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's .
