Venezuela is among the top ten countries with the highest levels
of biodiversity in the world. Pioneers in environmental matters, Venezuelans
have numerous legal instruments to deal with natural areas. Resulting
from these instruments, we have 43 National Parks and 36 Natural
Monuments. As a whole, they cover 15 million hectares, approximately
16% of our country's area.
National Parks are large
extensions of the national territory protected by the Venezuelan State
in order to preserve unspoiled portions of our ecosystems and the natural
resources inside them. Nevertheless, despite the efforts of various
governmental and non-governmental organizations to protect our National
Parks, it is common to find out that the regulations designed for these
areas are not properly complied with. This is due, to a great extent,
to the lack of knowledge about the importance that National Parks can
have in our daily life and in the economic and social welfare of our
country.
It is for this reason that BioParques, a non-profit non-governmental
organization (NGO), was created out of the need for the Venezuelan population
to understand and treasure the value of their natural areas as ways
to preserve and/or improve their quality of life.
Through periodical visits, BioParques assesses the way in which National
Parks are functioning as well as the resources available for them. BioParques
promotes integral solutions for the problems that are detected, providing
support, through these activities, for the governmental organizations
in their attempts to develop effective conservation programs.
Currently, BioParques is working on a Network of National Park Allies.
This is an ambitious long term project that will strengthen the links
between the parks and their beneficiaries. We intend to promote the
notion of co-responsibility for protected areas in the population. Co-responsibility
is defined as the shared responsibility of the government and common
citizens to work for and look after the protected areas in the country.
We encourage you to explore our web site and discover how we put the
conservation of our parks into practice and how you can join us in this
task.
Last
update: July 2008
To contact us:
Phone number: +58-212-7314016
Fax: +58-212-7317189
Email: bioparques@bioparques.org
Office hours:
9 am to 1 pm (Monday to Friday)