Territorial Identification of the Chingaza National Natural Park in the San Juanito Meta Municipality

Protected areas in Colombia began their establishment before the 1991 Constitution where community participation is safeguarded for their declaration. Preceding it, the conformation of the Chingaza National Park impacts the communities established in these territories for a century; being a generator of conflict for the owners or possessors of these properties and pressure for the conservation of the National Natural Park. The San Juanito municipality is inserted into area of the Park the 50% of its territory and due to its outstanding orographic conditions, as well as watershed management plans, which further increase the proportion of restricted use areas. This work documented the property composition of the portion of the Chingaza National Park correspondingto the San Juanito municipality. Techniques were used to collect information such as observation, cartographic documentation and interviews with experts. Once the study area was determined, the field was approached, classified by sidewalks and visiting each of the cadastral identified properties. The influence of these settlements in the protection zone was verified, determined in a number of 58 properties in total, presenting the highest concentration of properties in the San Luis de Toledo and Candelaria villages, respectively.