The Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve or Thomas van der Hammen Forest Reserve is an area of the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...

that is under environmental protection. The natural reserve was declared as such in year 2000 by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable development.¿A quién le sirve la CAR?
/ref> It takes its name from the Dutch-Colombian geologist

Thomas van der Hammen Thomas van der Hammen (Schiedam, Netherlands, 27 September 1924 - Chía, Colombia, 12 March 2010) was a Dutch palaeontologist, botanist and geologist. He had published more than 160 works in five languages.Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. The protection area has the purpose of creating an

urban forest Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

that connects the

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the wester ...

and the Eastern Hills of Bogotá, to preserve the underground water sources, improve the quality of the air and protect the diversity and activities of the animal species that exist there.Por qué la reserva Thomas Van Der Hammen es importante para Bogotá
/ref>

Mayor of Bogotá In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Enrique Peñalosa Enrique Peñalosa Londoño (born 30 September 1954) is a Colombian politician. He was Mayor of Bogotá, mayor of Bogotá from 1998 until 2001 and elected again in 2015 for the 2016–2019 term. Early life and education Peñalosa was born in ...

has proposed construction in the Reserve that could host 1.5 million people.La franja que pone a Peñalosa a defender su primer megaproyecto
- El Tiempo

Flora and fauna

The Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve is a rich natural area important for the

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of the Bogotá savanna. Several endemic species have been registered, and two newly described species of butterflies were discovered in the Reserve.

Fauna

Birds

In the area of the reserve 187 species of birds have been registered, some of which are endangered.Las aves de la Reserva Van der Hammen…¡déjenlas volar y vivir en paz!
/ref>Cortés, 2016, p.1-3 Two species, registered in the past; ''

Cistothorus apolinari ''Cistothorus'' is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Troglodytidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Cistothorus'' was circumscribed by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850. The type species is the sedge wren (''Cistothorus stellar ...

'' and ''

Polystictus pectoralis The bearded tachuri (''Polystictus pectoralis'') is a Near Threatened species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. T ...

'' have not been reported recently.Estas aves desaparecerían si Peñalosa urbaniza la reserva Thomas Van der Hammen
/ref>

Mammals

Registered mammals are among others

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

Andean white-eared opossum The Andean white-eared opossum (''Didelphis pernigra'') is an opossum species from South America. It is found in the Andes Mountains, ranging from Venezuela to Bolivia. Together with the Guianan white-eared opossum (''D. imperfecta''), this spe ...

(''Didelphis pernigra''), tigrillo (''Leopardus tigrinus''),La Reserva Van der Hammen como oportunidad para el tigrillo lanudo
/ref>

long-tailed weasel The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of weasel found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is distinct from the Stoat, short-t ...

(''Mustela frenata''),Comadreja reportada en la Reserva Van der Hammen
/ref> and eleven species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s.Sánchez, 2011, p.72

= Bats

Butterflies

With 350

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species, Colombia occupies the first position worldwide in diversity of butterflies and after

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, the second place in total number of registered butterfly species (3274).Nuevas especies de mariposas en borde norte de Bogotá
/ref> The Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve contains 23 (new studies report more than 26 with two new species in the genus ''

Satyrinae The Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the browns, are a subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies). They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known divers ...

'' discovered) species of butterflies.Los animales de la reserva Thomas van der Hammen
/ref>Las mariposas que frenarían el plan de Peñalosa en van der Hammen
/ref> Other species of butterflies have been registered:Calderón & Gualtero, 2014, p.49

Gallery

File:Reserva Thomas van der Hammen al 2016.jpg, Map of the extent in 2016 File:Humedal de la conejera.jpg,

La Conejera La Conejera () is a wetland, part of the Wetlands of Bogotá, located in the locality Suba, Bogotá, Suba, Bogotá, Colombia. The wetland, in the Juan Amarillo River basin on the Bogotá savanna covers an area of .Moreno et al., s.a., p.23 Flora ...

wetland, part of the reserve

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*
Bogotá diversa
{{Bogotá, state=expanded Geography of Bogotá Geography of Cundinamarca Department Altiplano Cundiboyacense Nature reserves in Colombia Protected areas established in 2000 2000 establishments in Colombia