At the top of the mountains

At the top of the mountains:

Communities and vegetation at the mountain tops of the tropical Andes and a bilateral effort to halt the effects of biodiversity loss and climate change

Photo by: Julieth Serrano

Date: November 18th, 2021
Time: 2 pm – 5 pm
Contact us at monica.amadorjimenez@bristol.ac.uk, j.serrano@exeter.ac.uk

Paramo is the fastest evolving and colder biodiversity hotspot in South America. Paramos and High Andean forests are ecosystems occurring at the top of the mountains, and they host a great number of unique or endemic species. They also provide large natural reservoirs of water to megacities like Bogota in Colombia (South America), and are crucial to halt the effects of climate change and to prevent further biodiversity loss. During the event “At the top of the mountains”, we will promote public awareness about the exceptional biodiversity found in these ecosystems, their people, their culture, and about local and international efforts that aim to protect them.

During this event, we will also share the results of high-impact scientific projects lead by Colombian and British institutions, and we will virtually take our audience to the Colombian mountains at the peasant’s village of Monquetiva. We will offer our audience a drone view of the Paramo and forest landscape at Monquetiva, we will host a live conversation with local peasants, committed for decades to the protection of Paramos, and we will release an animated video that will translate rigorous scientific studies into a didactic and entertaining audiovisual experience.

The event will be chaired by Julieth Serrano and Monica Amador, in representation of the BioResilience Project lead by the University of Exeter and Bristol.

The event is open to …

Our event is open to everyone, and especially to young people and adults.

The event will be of interest to…

“At the top of the mountains” will be of interest to young people and adults from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, and interested on environmental leadership, multidisciplinary research, and conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources