Saving paradise

The La Macarena National and Ecological ReservePark, located in the heart of Colombia, is home to one of the most beautiful rivers in the world: the Caño Cristales. Due to the civil war, this river of five colors was cut off from the outside world for nearly 60 years. However, it shelters a unique fauna and flora. Its red, pink and green colors are explained by an aquatic plant that is found only in this part of the world. It grows directly on the rock in a crystal clear water, very poor in nutrients. Thanks to it, the river is populated by fish, turtles, snakes, iguanas and even dwarf caimans. 41 species of mammals inhabit the banks, from squirrel monkeys to felines, tapirs, peccaries, tamanduas, as well as many birds. All of them depend on this river which is now threatened by the decrease of rainfall and the deforestation for the benefit of the cattle. An oil company has even tried to drill in the area to exploit the hydrocarbons but the local population has vehemently opposed it.

The Iguazu Falls, one of the 7 wonders of the planet, are the biggest in the world with their 275 cascades on 3 kilometers. But, how to reconcile today this ecological treasure with the development of tourism, in a region in full economic boom? Thanks to the creation of several national parks in Argentina and Brazil, they are in the heart of a vast forest with unique biodiversity. The area of the falls is home to 422 species of birds, from the majestic toucans to the great dusky swifts, which nest behind the falls, or the grey-fronted guans, essential for the regeneration of the forest

Born after a landslide, the Kaindy Lake has been covering for 100 years a sunken forest which stands with its ghostly trunks in the middle of electric blue water. Since 2007, this lake and its surrounding forests are in the heart of a national park, created to protect the fauna against hunting but also the extension of the breeding and tourism. Under the supervision of the rangers, the populations of deer, ibex and small mammals have recovered, allowing the return of large predators such as wolves, bears, lynx and especially the snow leopard. But the whole region is now threatened by the accelerated melting of the glaciers. For their part, scientists are fighting to preserve a balance between human development and the well-being of wildlife.

More than 1000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands form an amazing archipelago in the middle of the Pacific. Rangers and scientists fight day after day to preserve this unique extraordinary fauna, remnant of a bestiary millions of years old. The Galapagos and its volcanoes are home to unique animal species that have developed away from the outside world, on islands that humans have only occupied for a short time. The northern part of the archipelago is visited by the largest fish in the world, the whale shark, a prehistoric species weighing over 30 tons. Curious to see a large concentration of whale shark females, scientists hypothesize that they come here to give birth and take advantage of the nutrient-rich water, brought by the cold currents, to feed their young.

Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Umphang Sanctuary, the largest in Thailand, is an outstanding biodiversity refuge in Asia. Its high-altitude rainforest is home to wild elephants, tigers and bears, deer and buffalo, monkeys and squirrels, as well as birds of all kinds, such as hornbills and Asian peacocks. Thanks to a dense network of rivers and the country's largest waterfalls, this unique ecosystem manages to survive the six-month dry season. The vegetation and the fruit trees thus offer, all year long, an abundant food to the various animal species.

A natural paradise located off the coast of Guinea Bissau, the Bissagos archipelago is a strategic place for the conservation of the planet's biodiversity. Only 23 of its 88 islands are inhabited by a population very respectful of its environment. They are an ideal refuge for a rich wildlife. Among them, we find the only hippos in the world that live part of their time in sea water, as well as crocodiles, manatees, sand fiddler crabs and periophthalmus, strange fish with frog-like eyes.