Geography The landscape of the Central Cundinamarca region, located in Colombia, comprises the western slope of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in the department of Cundinamarca. It has an elevation gradient of 250 to 2000 m a.s.l. from bottom to top with remnants of well-preserved tropical dry forest along with relicts of sub-Andean forest with areas of human settlements and agricultural zones, where shaded coffee cultivation predominates. It covers an area of 238,246 ha and is administratively subdivided into 12 municipalities: San Juan de Rioseco, Quipile, Chaguaní, Pulí, Jerusalén and Beltrán in the Seco River watershed, and others direct to the Magdalena (CAR 2019a); Vianí, Guayabal de Síquima, Bituima, Quebradanegra, Villeta in the Negro River watershed (CAR 2022a) and Guaduas in the area of influence of both watersheds. The evaluation area is close to Bogotá D.C., the capital of Colombia, and is in a privileged geographic location that is crossed by the new road axis that connects the eastern and central mountain ranges, offering a corridor that allows contemplating the rich landscape and the diversity of ecosystems of the upper Magdalena River valley to the Páramo Los Nevados Complex, while promoting commercial and social development between regions. Local economy Cundinamarca is the second largest agricultural sector in the country in terms of GDP (Gobernación de Cundinamarca 2020). The landscape is dominated by sugarcane, coffee, banana, corn and plantain crops, which account for 82% of the planted area (UPRA 2023). For the particular case of dry parchment coffee, the average production yield of the municipalities in the evaluation area between 2019 and 2022 was 1.01 ton/ha, below the national average of 1.08 ton/ha4. Most coffee farmers sell dry parchment coffee to intermediaries at prices that fluctuate depending on market trends and on which a bonus can be applied if it belongs to the Nespresso AAA program. Status of partnership, landscape planning or action Due to the presence of two endemic bird species associated with the dry forest ecosystems of the Magdalena Valley, the apical flycatcher (Myiarchus apicalis) and the Magdalena euphonia (Euphonia concinna), as well as being a congregation area for birds of prey during migration, such as the Magdalena eagle (Buteo platypterus), and thanks to the efforts of the Corporación Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca and the coffee producers of the municipalities of Beltrán, San Juan de Rioseco, Pulí, Jerusalén, and Guataquí, it has been designated as an Important Bird Area "Paraíso de Aves del Tabor y Magdalena" (BirdLife International 2023, CAR 2021a). CAR has also managed the conservation of the strategic dry forest ecosystem (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development 2022), with the designation of the Regional District of Integrated Management of the Dry Forest of the Eastern Slope of the Magdalena River (CAR 2022b), and the protection of the springs of the rivers that supply the municipal aqueduct of Pulí, with the Regional District of Integrated Management of Cerro El Tabor (CAR 2021b). The National Federation of Coffee Growers and the Nespresso AAA program through Volcafe S.A. are present in the region, providing technical assistance and implementing biodiversity protection and management policies (FNC 2024a, Nespresso 2024a, Volcafé 2024a). There are also private initiatives for the restoration, conservation and protection of biodiversity in the area, including the Los Carpinteros Biological Reserve in Guayabal de Síquima, the Siembramor Foundation in Bituima and the Arañero Pechigris Environmental Association in Guaduas, among others. Other physical, geological, climatic or ecological threats or dynamics The Eastern Cordillera - western slope has a differentiated precipitation pattern - influenced by the large Magdalena River basin, with a bimodal regime that alternates seasons of abundant and scarce rainfall. With two marked periods of intense sunshine, up to 180 hr. for the months of January and July (Gobernación de Cundinamarca 2020). Because the annual sunshine in the region exceeds 1,800 hours, and the area has soils with water deficiencies, nutritional limitations, susceptibility to erosion and low moisture retention, the crop needs to be cultivated under shade with values between 43.1% -22.6% (Farfán-Valencia 2021). The agroforestry system in the area provides an important service in soil retention and erosion control, in a mountain landscape with high susceptibility to landslides (CAR 2019a, CAR 2022a). Shaded coffee plantations and forests are determinant for the abundance of migratory land birds (Céspedes et al. 2022), and the precipitation regime associated with a greater supply of resources establishes a dispersion dynamic between the biodiversity of the rainforests and the tropical dry forest, generating an important ecological connectivity in the landscape (Gómez et al. 2014).The 1989 liberalization of the coffee market and dismantling of the International Coffee Agreement led to a decline in coffee producers' income, creating imbalances in the value chain. Importers and roasters now receive 79% of the value, while producers get only 5%, despite constituting 89% of the chain's workforce (Samoggia and Fantini 2020). With an unregulated market, profitability hinges on producing more at lower costs, impacting rural workers' wages. This has driven young people to migrate to cities, causing labor shortages in rural areas (Samoggia and Fantini 2020). Climate variations during the coffee crop's phenological cycle, influenced by temperature and precipitation changes (Gómez et al. 2022, Gaitán et al. 2016, Peña et al. 2012), significantly affect production. La Niña-related excess rainfall in 2022 reduced Colombian production by 12% (FNC 2023a, DNP 2021). Rainfall distribution throughout the year plays a crucial role in coffee prices (Aliaga et al. 2023), worsening climate change effects on producers, leading to reduced yields and quality (Sachs et al. 2019). Consequently, agricultural land abandonment, particularly near urban centers, has fueled rapid rural-to-urban migration, jeopardizing generational continuity, agricultural capacity, and the coffee value chain's sustainability (Samoggia and Fantini 2020, Valbuena et al. 2021). See More