Cerrejón participated in The Global Big Day 2020

Cerrejón took part in Global Big Day 2020 today, a worldwide birding day held each year to celebrate, recognize, and appreciate the birds living around us. Dozens of our workers and their families joined this celebration from their homes, observing some of the more than 500 different species inhabiting our department.

The company joined this initiative in 2018; each year, this activity brings together thousands of people from around the world for 24 hours of birding to spot local birds. Thanks to the participation of Cerrejón and our workers, in 2019 La Guajira had the highest number of sightings amongst the Colombian Caribbean departments. Just on the mining concession lands, over 260 bird species have been identified.

“In 2020, we joined in this yearly event from our homes to raise awareness of the importance of the birds in our region and to recognize the importance of biodiversity and its conservation. Our department has species vulnerable to extinction such as the vermilion cardinal and the military macaw, but even from our homes we can observe over 20 of them on an average day”, affirmed Luis Madriñan, manager of Cerrejón’s Environmental Management.

Colombia has the highest diversity of birds in the world at more than 1,900 species. The department of La Guajira is a privileged region, with 25% of the country’s bird diversity, of which 12 species are endemic to this region.

“In our operations, we protect and safeguard the department’s biodiversity. We also raise the awareness of our workers on the importance of birds as species that help us in crop growth and pest control”,concludes Madriñan.

With our participation in these types of events, the company reiterates our commitment to protect the biodiversity of La Guajira and to involve and raise the awareness of our workers in its conservation and stewardship.