Only allowed in the area, the development of conservation activities, education, recreation, culture, recovery and control.

The Board of Corpoguajira, approved the Agreement through which the “Manantial de Cañaverales” was declared a Protective Forest Reserve, after the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, issue their concept of favorability. The area has 975.7 hectares, It is located in the path Cañaverales, the municipality of San Juan del Cesar.

El Manantial de Cañaverales corresponds to a dry tropical forest ecosystem, whose particularity lies in the presence of an outcrop of groundwater from which urban and rural residents residing in this portion of the municipality are supplied for human consumption and for the development of their productive activities., aspect that gives it great strategic importance at the local level. The new Protective Forest Reserve is located on the foothills of the Serranía de Perijá, at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level, within the sub-basin of the Cañaverales river.

"We have heeded a call from the local population, who asked the environmental authority, the adoption of forceful measures to ensure the future maintenance of the ecosystem services derived from this underground aquifer. With this new declaration we reaffirm our commitment, institutional mission and we also contribute to guaranteeing the protection of biodiversity and environmental integrity in the region. ”, Romero Perez explains Arcesio, General Manager Corpoguajira.

As a result of this declaration, it is strictly forbidden to carry out all kinds of exploration or mining activities in the Manantial; only the secondary fruits of the forest will be allowed to be obtained as defined in its Management Plan.

The conservation objectives for which the Manantial de Cañaverales Protective Forest Reserve is declared are framed within the provisions of current environmental regulations.:

– Insure in perpetuity, the water production and the maintenance of the biotic and landscape values ​​offered by the Cañaverales Spring.

– Preserve a representative sample of the tropical dry forests and thorny thickets existing in this portion of the municipality of San Juan del Cesar.

– Conserve the species of flora threatened with extinction that exist in the area: ebony (Ebony Libidibia), guayacán (Bulnesia arborea) and carreto (aspidosperma polyneuron).

– Preserve animal species that are endangered or have restricted distribution as are: anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), he tigrillo (Leopardus pardalis), the macaw (Ara militaris) and the small carpenter (Picumnus cinnamomeus).

– Maintaining landscape values ​​offered by the existing area and particularly in the Spring of Cañaverales.

– Provide spaces for the development of basic and applied research that allow obtaining knowledge about the natural values ​​of the area and better managing it..

– Provide scenarios for passive recreation, contemplation and recreation, and for the development of educational activities aimed at highlighting the importance of the tropical dry forest and the environmental goods and services that this ecosystem offers..

With the declaration of the Manantial de Cañaverales as Protective Forest Reserve, the department of La Guajira completes a total of seven protected areas (four regional and three national).