The Women of Colombia’s Montezuma Rainforest Reserve and Ecolodge

Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Joel Such for liaising with Elena Klaver and the Tapasco family, to Roger Rodríguez Ardila for translating this article into Spanish, and to Frank Izaguirre and David Páez Acevedo for editing the translation. 

n 1998, Michelle Tapasco was pressured to leave the llanos (plains) of eastern Colombia and move west to the mountains near Pueblo Rico in search of peace, after living through the decades-long armed conflict plaguing Colombia. She sought a place where she and her daughters, as well as her extended family, could live safely. Michelle and her sister Sonia bought a farm in the village of Montebello in Risaralda, the department (roughly equivalent to a U.S. state or Canadian province) where their family’s indigenous ancestors originated.

When she moved to a farm in Colombia’s Risaralda Department in 1998, Michelle Tapasco was simply looking for a better life for her and her daughters. For a quarter century, she, her family, friends, and neighbors have worked together and built an impressive model for how ecotourism can be a sustainable bridge between local livelihoods and global conservation. Photo © Joel Such.

The farm is located on the edge of the “Coffee Triangle”, on the Pacific slope of the Western Andes on the edge of the Chocó bioregion. Within the farming community, residents grazed cattle and farmed sugarcane, coffee, bananas, and lulo (Solanum quitoense—an orange-colored, acidic fruit related to tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes). Beyond these human-altered habitats, nearby ecosystems include cloudforest, high-altitude dwarf forest, and humid lowland Chocó rainforest. The highest elevations support páramo (open habitat above treeline), which is fully protected in Tatamá National Natural Park. There are two main seasons, wet and dry—although in the last decade or so, the seasons have been irregular.

Once settled into the Montebello community, Michelle quickly sensed the biological importance of her new home. Though her family’s background was in farming, and the modern concept of conservation was foreign to them, protecting the natural world was always a part of the family’s philosophy. Encouraged by Julián Zapata, Michelle quickly decided to create a bird club calledObservadores de Aves Los Quetzales, so that her family’s school-aged children and their classmates would be able to learn about the local natural environment through field excursions. Soon after, Michelle started hosting students and biologists, facilitating research projects. She gradually came to the conclusion that the high natural diversity in the area could allow her to develop the farm as an ecolodge, both to promote conservation and as a means to support her family and fund her daughters’ college educations. With the goal of ensuring a brighter future for her family, Michelle attended university to obtain degrees in natural resources and tourism. By 2009, the first international birding group arrived at her doorstep eager to see the region’s endemic birdlife. From that point forward, it was clear to her that birding-focused tourism would be an economically viable investment.

At first, there were difficulties. Michelle and her daughters would camp outside their home to offer the indoor space to overnighting birders. It was sometimes hard to convince people to visit a country still plagued by armed conflict, but Michelle always saw the opportunity to promote birding as a means of conservation, as well as to establish connections. “People began to realize that Montezuma was a wonderful project, that we in Colombia weren’t all bad people,” she said. “It wasn’t how it is often portrayed in the media. They could see that there were beautiful places, families like ours, where people were taking care of their environment. Birding is one of those ways. People can take a photo, take something away in their hearts, in their minds, creating a beautiful memory without damaging anything.” It was also a way for her to continue to raise her daughters in the countryside, and to create a business that combined environmental conservation with economic sustainability. The family has reforested the majority of its land, and the rest is used for sustainable agriculture.

There are proportionately very few businesses established and run by women in Colombia, and even fewer in the field of ecotourism. Indeed, Michelle and her five daughters (Yessika, Liseth, Yesennia, Tatiana, and Michelle Alejandra) are pioneers. Michelle recounts that it was difficult at first for cultural reasons: “In a country such as Colombia, the machismomade it very difficult. It is hard to be a woman alone. Many men think we women just can’t do anything on our own, and at first, people made fun of me and my daughters, and told me I was crazy. But with the team of women here at Montezuma, we have proved them wrong. We have proved that we can run a business as women, that we can be successful, and now many men have changed their attitude from what they had thought before…but we started with nothing, did it all ourselves, and never gave up. Starting Montezuma was the greatest gift I have received, to be able to create a business in the countryside, with my daughters and family, to see them all working in some aspect of birding, working for the natural environment. That is what continues to inspire me.”

Collared Inca is widespread in the Andes but still stunning. 16 Jul 2022. Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá, Risaralda, Colombia. Photo © Liseth Tapasco.

Developing Montezuma Rainforest Reserve and Ecolodge has not only provided Michelle, her extended family, and even some neighbors with a means of earning a living, it has also been the key to enabling her three youngest daughters to pursue higher education. Yesennia studied wildlife biology with the goal of promoting wildlife conservation through ecotourism. She also works as one of the lodge’s bird guides. Tatiana is an environmental engineer and is in charge of technical issues on the property. Michelle Alejandra, the youngest daughter, is now working on a degree in forestry in Guatemala, where she lives and works with her spouse John Cahill in their bird-guiding business. Yessika has served in a variety of roles, most recently supervising food preparation for visitors as the lodge’s head chef, but she is currently living in a nearby city with her son, Jhojand, while he completes high school. Yessika’s spouse Duverney is a driver, expert craftsman, and handyman. Liseth has long served as the lodge’s manager, and is an aspiring conservation photographer: she was selected as a 2022 “Girls Who Click” Ambassador. Liseth’s spouse, Joel Such, a conservation biologist and photographer from Colorado, is another of the lodge’s bird guides; he primarily focuses on avian monitoring and other conservation projects. Michelle’s sister Sonia and Sonia’s daughter Sindy grow vegetables and raise chickens to help supply the lodge with healthy, locally raised food. Alirio, Michelle’s brother, maintains the grounds along with neighbor Helmer and keeps a watchful eye on security. Michelle’s nephews and niece, Fernando, Juasman, and Viviana, are all bird guides for the lodge, and everyone pitches in doing whatever work is needed at the time.

Tatamá National Natural Park was established in 1987 and (according to its website in Jan 2023) has grown to 51,900 hec-tares (128,248 acres) after multiple expansions. Tatamá means “grandfather of the rivers” in the indigenous Emberá language, and while national parks are generally beneficial from a conservation standpoint, there are differing models of how parks interact with and include—or exclude—local communities.

When Michelle and her family moved to Montebello, the village had a vibrant population of approximately 200 people. Tatamá National Natural Park was upslope from the community, but in the early 2000s, the park began slowly expanding its boundaries until it covered the village itself, including their family’s property. National park policies forbid certain activities, such as farming, and without any alternatives on the table, this ended the traditional agricultural livelihoods of community members. Others, including some of Michelle’s extended family, were left with no choice but to vacate their homes without compensation. Michelle, however, stayed focused on building her business in ecotourism. At present, only a core group of Tapasco family members remain in Montebello. The schoolhouse sits empty, and other buildings lie vacant and in ruin. Meanwhile, another park expansion is underway.

The government’s relationship with local communities is an uneasy one, and the future of places such as Montezuma seem unclear. At another national park area, Otún Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary near Pereira, a local nonprofit organization called Asociación Comunitario Yarumo Blanco worked under a government contract for a number of years. It developed and promoted ecotourism and conservation, winning recognition and awards in the field. But in 2021, the national park suspended the association’s license to operate, partly due to disagreements over financial issues.

Montezuma Rainforest Reserve and Ecolodge is dependent on ecotourism from North America and Eurasia to be economically viable, as are the majority of birding and ecotourism operations in Colombia. Thus, Michelle’s ability to provide the basic needs for her large extended family depends on this ecotourism.

The Velvet-purple Coronet is a stunning hummingbird found only in the Chocó bioregion of Colombia and Ecuador.

The benefits of a balanced model of ecotourism are many. Local people can become trained as guides, allowing them to remain in their communities and earn a living. Natural ecosystems are conserved and saved from extractive industries, monocrop agriculture, and overgrazing. Plus, families such as Michelle’s can have access to higher education. As part of an all-woman-run business, Michelle and her daughters are somewhat unique, but despite the challenges they face, they continue to run the lodge with the belief that conservation and birding ecotourism represent both economic self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability.

Michelle states, “My vision has always been about conservation, but not a vision of conservation such as what the national park promotes. We have shown that there can be conservation, and communities can benefit from that conservation. Because if there is no benefit, people won’t respect their environment. What I have seen is that all my neighbors can see that what we are doing is the future: that conservation can provide economic benefits. They don’t need to cut down all the trees in order to have resources, and also we can learn to live with the animals and leave the land in peace. Some of my neighbors also now work here, so they see that their livelihood is based on conservation.”

The immediate area around Montezuma boasts a globally impressive diversity of birds: almost 600 species, including 16 endemics and 61 near-endemics. It is also home to 550 orchid species, 750 butterfly species, and over 100 species of dragonflies. There are seven eBird hotspots located in or near Montezuma. An 8-mile (13-kilometer) road passes by the lodge and through various ecosystems, and birders can spend most of the day along this road. They usually start at the top of the road, at about 8,366 feet (2,550 meters) in elevation, and travel down the road to about 4,265 feet (1,300 meters). Breakfast and lunch are served in the field. The home-cooked lunch, once brought by horseback, is now delivered by motorcycle and served warm, to the delight of visiting birders.

Some of the most sought-after endemic bird species include Gold-ringed Tanager, Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer, and Munchique Wood-Wren. Montezuma is the only place all three of these species can be easily seen. Other Colombian endemics found at Montezuma include Black-and-gold Tanager, Tatamá Tapaculo, Crested Ant-tanager, and Chamí Antpitta. One of the rarest bird species present is Dusky Starfrontlet, a hummingbird that is only seen at Cerro Montezuma near the top of the mountain during the rainy season. The species may consist of only a few hundred individuals found on several mountains in the Western Andes. Dusky Starfrontlet is just one of 51 species of hummingbirds at Montezuma. Fourteen of these are near-endemic and exquisitely named: Tourmaline Sunangel, Empress Brilliant, Purple-bibbed Whitetip. There are a remarkable 48 species of tanagers, 10 of which are endemic or near-endemic.

The Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl is endemic to the Western Andes of Colombia and northern Ecuador. Apr. 12, 2022. Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá, Risaralda, Colombia. Photo © Joel Such.

As Michelle Tapasco’s efforts to combine birding, conservation, and economic self-sufficiency continue to grow at Montezuma, it is clear that we birders can make choices to further these endeavors. We can choose to spend resources supporting businesses, such as Montezuma Lodge, that directly benefit local residents. We can enhance local residents’ ability to meet their basic needs and to access quality education, allowing them to stay on their land and increasing the likelihood that they will want to conserve and protect their native ecosystems. As the movement to highlight fair trade has shown, consumers can consciously direct resources to local efforts that help families stay on ancestral lands, keep economic resources within communities, and support healthy economic growth that promotes education and a sustainable conservation ethic.

As calls for environmental and social justice have increased, so too have calls for supporting women and Black and Indigenous communities. This too has highlighted birders’ relationships with places such as Montezuma Lodge as incredibly important. Michelle has always had the drive to overcome obstacles and continue moving forward. She concluded our interview by saying, “Some people told us that it was crazy to work in tourism in a place with such chaos in the past, but even though it hasn’t been easy, as a woman and as a mother, I kept on going. When things become difficult, it makes me want to work even harder. In the past, we had to run away, but we’re not going to run anymore. We’re here to stay. And now that there have been peace accords and a new president, we are very hopeful, and it’s a good time to visit Colombia.”