Thanks to the Generalitat Valenciana’s approval of 316.000€ through the Petjades DNGO, COMFENALCO Antioquia will carry out the Viviendo el Parque (Living the Park) project in the Piedras Blancas Ecological Park.  This initiative, with a total cost of 500.000€ has the purpose of increasing income possibilities for the region’s inhabitants through an expansión of Socially Responsible Tourism, reducing levels of inadequate extraction from the forest and creating gender equal sustainable local development processes. 

The following strategies have been foreseen for developing this proposal:

1. Enlargement of the hotel and tourist infrastructure: extending the Park’s “living classroom” concept, a hotel and a Farm – Workshop will be built that will serve as spaces for learning about tourism and sustainable agricultural techniques for the visitors’ enjoyment and for benefiting the region’s inhabitants. 

2. Training for visitors and participants: this component aims to integrally train the families that inhabit the Reserve through courses in the areas of agricultural ecology, human and community development, entrepreneurship and tourism.  Training will also be offered to visiting children, teenagers and adults regarding the principles of Socially Responsible Tourism and environmental care. 

3. Strengthening farming production units: productive land will be strengthened through the delivery of agro-ecological and agro-tourism packages and visits from experts who will provide adequate technical aid during their implementation. 

4. Supporting the sale of farming products and services: activities will be carried out to promote the sale of tourism products and services offered by the participating farming families. 

This project will benefit close to 25 thousand people through all its components and will mean an investment of close to Col$1.350 million, of which cooperation will contribute 64%, COMFENALCO Antioquia 26%, COREDI 5% and other local partners the remaining 5%.