Certain academic and conservation sectors have criticised the approach based on the fear it will be too lenient to financial interests, undermining biodiversity governance and conservation. Also, the dynamic view of complex adaptive systems makes some people nervous about issues such as ecological identity, ecological compensations and possible trade-offs that may hinder environmental governance and the biological assets of a megadiverse country such as Colombia.

The purpose of the seminar will be to discuss some of the issues derived from the new Colombian policy on biodiversity management and ecosystem services, and the role that research institutions such as the Humboldt Institute can play in bridging science and policy.

About Brigitte Baptiste
Baptiste is the founder and general director of the Humboldt Institute in Colombia. In her career she has focused on building bridges between ecological research and policy. A biologist by training, she is the co-founder of the Environmental and Rural Faculty at Universidad Javeriana, and has lectured for many years on landscape ecology and the history of ecology.