The Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt is a non-profit civil corporation, created by Law 99 of 1993, of public character, but subject to the rules of private law, with administrative autonomy, legal personality and its own patrimony, linked to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.
Its function is to carry out scientific research on biodiversity in the national continental territory, including scientific research related to hydrobiological resources and genetic resources. In addition, its mission is to contribute to the creation of the national inventory of biodiversity, develop a national information system on biodiversity, and obtain, store, analyze, study, process, supply and disseminate basic information on biodiversity, ecosystems, their resources and processes, for the proper management and use of the Nation's renewable natural resources.
No, the Institute Humboldt is not an environmental authority, so the aforementioned activities are outside its functions and mission.
It is an international distinction that refers to an 'Important Bird and Biodiversity Area'. Its acronym in English is IBA. The AICA Program is a global initiative coordinated by BirdLife International that focuses on the identification, documentation and management of a global network of critical sites for the conservation of birds and biodiversity, considered irreplaceable and potentially vulnerable"hotspots". In Colombia and the world the AICA are identified according to technical criteria that consider the presence of bird species that are a priority for conservation. To learn more please click here.
No, the Institute Humboldt is not an environmental authority, so issuing concepts on the matter is outside its functions and mission. Now, through Resolution 1204 of 2014 of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the National Technical Committee of Introduced and/or Transplanted Invasive Species was formed, of which the Institute is part, which delivers technical inputs to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development such as Risk Analysis on issues related to species, subspecies, breeds, hybrids and varieties, among others, whether transplanted and/or exotic. Learn more about exotic and invasive species.
Regarding the delimitation of paramos, according to the provisions of Article 173 of Law 1753 of 2015 and Article 4 of Law 1930 of 2018, "the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development shall make the delimitation of paramos based on the reference area generated by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute at scale 1:25,000 or whichever is available and the technical, economic, social and environmental studies prepared by the regional environmental authority in accordance with the terms of reference issued by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development."
In this sense, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development is the competent authority to advance the delimitation of páramo areas, taking as input both the reference area generated by the Institute Humboldt, at a scale of 1:100,000 or 1:25,000 when the latter is available, and the technical studies that allow characterizing the environmental, social and economic context prepared by the regional environmental authority (competent regional autonomous corporations or sustainable development corporations), in accordance with the terms of reference issued by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.
No, the Institute Humboldt is not an environmental or cartographic authority, so it is outside its functions and mission to issue this type of certificates. However, geospatial information can be consulted in our Geographic Catalog.
The manual for downloading geospatial data and information.
As a research institute of the Sina, the Institute aims to mobilize data, information, knowledge and narratives that position and connect biodiversity and its contributions to the transition towards sustainability and the well-being of people in a context of climate change.
With the above framework, and under a mission-oriented research and management approach, the Institute manages knowledge related to the integrated management of biodiversity and its ecosystem services, for which it has proposed six challenges for 2030:
It addresses these challenges through research centers in Species Collections and Management, Socioecological Studies and Global Change, Economics and Finance of Biodiversity, Nature-based Solutions, Social Appropriation, and Data Integration and Analytics.
The Institute enabled the geographicvisor where you can make queries in relation to the species present at the level of municipality and department, following the steps in the consultation and download manual
You can also consult the portal of the Biodiversity Information System of Colombia - SiB Colombia.
Both visor and SiB Colombia you can find the Institute's information Humboldt along with information from other institutions at the national level. It should be noted that the records published through these tools are constantly updated. In addition, in the biomodelos it is possible to access updated, timely and accurate information on the state of biological diversity in the territory.
In the information catalogs are available all the resources produced by the Institute Humboldt in fulfillment of its institutional mission. These catalogs, available in the following internet links for consultation by all Colombians, allow filters and searches according to specific information requirements:
Note: To use these resources, please take into account and follow the use licenses that have been established by the Institute for the proper use of the information, which can be found in each of the datasets of our catalogs.
Available publications can be found at Humboldt, as well as the Biodiversity Tarot and other products offered by the Institute.
We appreciate your interest in joining the Institute, so we invite you to regularly consult our website, in "Work with us" and our social networks. There you can review current vacancies, as well as internship opportunities, identify if any of them are of interest to you and fit your profile, and participate in the calls and invitations we issue.
Information on the services offered by the Biological Collections, such as deposits, loans and exchange of specimens, student tours, consultation of species lists, scientific visits to review specimens, can be consulted in the collections.
If the answers to the frequently asked questions do not solve your concern, we invite you to contact us through the section PQRSF section of our web page or write to us at atencionalciudadano@humboldt.org.co.
To request tours for groups of students and universities to visit the facilities of the Institute, located in Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, at Cra 8 No. 15 - 08, we invite you to consult educational visit or scientific visit.
For visits to the headquarters of Venado de Oro, located in the city of Bogotá at Avenida Paseo Bolivar (Circunvalar) No. 16-20, we invite you to fill out the form PQRSF.
For frequently asked questions about the National Registry of Collections we invite you to go to click here.
The Alexander von Humbolt Biological Resources Research Institute, in order to provide a better service and facilitate interaction with citizens, implemented the Single Window Application, which functions as a guide form for both citizens and entities to raise their Petitions, Complaints, Claims, Suggestions and others; attaching the required documents to process them.
Go to the form here
We are operating one hundred percent through digital channels. If you want to contact us, just send an email to atencionalciudadano@humboldt.org.co