QRFN awarded a $15,000 grant to Asociación Salvemos Selva to complete the protection of Reserva Murciélagos, a 120-hectare rainforest reserve in Piamonte, Cauca, Colombia. The grant provided time-sensitive funding needed to close on an 88-hectare property before a purchase deadline, securing habitat within one of Colombia’s most important Andes-Amazon transition landscapes. The reserve protects critical habitat for the Critically Endangered Caquetá titi monkey (Plecturocebus caquetensis), one of the world’s rarest primates, with fewer than 500 individuals remaining and roughly half the global population occurring within the broader Piamonte landscape. The site also supports several other threatened species, including the Colombian woolly monkey (CR), Miller’s saki (VU), Military macaw (VU), and Lowland tapir (VU).
QRFN’s grant enabled the Salvemos Selva to close on the transaction and leveraged over $75,000 raised by Reserva: The Youth Land Trust and other partners to secure Reserva Murciélagos, consisting of two adjacent properties totaling 120 hectares (88 ha and 32 ha). As part of the broader Piamonte Conectado initiative, the project creates the first protected area for the Caquetá titi monkey, safeguarding a stronghold for one of the world’s rarest primates and strengthening connectivity across a globally significant biodiversity corridor threatened by growing deforestation and development.