Satellite view of the Magdalena-Urabá moist forests, Colombia Photograph by USGS   Northern South America: Northern Colombia. Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   29,700 square miles (76,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of South Carolina Critical/Endangered

· A River Runs Through It
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A River Runs Through It

The dense jungles and flooded wetlands of this northern Columbian ecoregion are home to an incredible diversity of tropical plants and wildlife. Orchids and vines drape the trees, monkeys and birds move through the forests, and manatees, crocodiles, and giant turtles swim the Magdalena and other rivers that run through this flat landscape.

Special Features

The Magdalena-Urabá Moist Forests are home to a large number of endemic plants and animals. The region also stands out because of its very high species diversity. During the rainy season, heavy rains fall in the canyons and upper river basins. All the rainfall is drained through large rivers to the Caribbean Sea, feeding a huge system of wetlands, lagoons, marshes, and ponds that are of tremendous importance to wildlife along the way. The ecoregion hosts a variety of migratory bird species from the north and south, and the region’s wetlands serve as a nursery for many important fish species.

	There may be as many as 35,000 different species of orchids on Earth. Some individual orchid species have flowers which produce "fruits" containing more than 2 million seeds!

Wild Side

Many species of mammals inhabit this ecoregion, including manatees, capybaras, jaguars, spider monkeys, cougars, ocelots, jaguaroundis, crab-eating raccoons, and giant anteaters.

Several waterfowl species native to the region are screamers, wild muscovy ducks, comb ducks, and tree or whistling ducks. Among the reptiles, crocodiles and giant river turtles are critically endangered; more common are bushmaster snakes, caimans, iguanas, and boa constrictors. More than 75 species of freshwater fishes, including tarpons and catfish, are found in the region, and more than 50 percent of these are endemic. Beautiful orchids, such as the endemic cattleya, butterfly, swan, and Holy Spirit, are native here.

Cause for Concern

Most of Colombia’s human population can be found surrounding this ecoregion, creating tremendous pressure on the area’s natural resources. Large-scale colonization, cattle ranching, gold mining, oil drilling, timber operations, illegal narcotic crops, and warfare threaten the region, as well as extreme pollution of the two most important rivers, the Magdalena and the Cauca.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.