Cerrejón is committed to the protection of endangered species

Cerrejón reaffirms its commitment to biodiversity conservation and the protection of endangered species in La Guajira through its Fauna Rehabilitation and Conservation of Endangered Species Program. In the last 17 years, the company and its neighboring communities have achieved significant progress in rehabilitating and protecting wildlife, releasing more than 72,700 animals and aiding in the conservation of the region´s ecosystems.

Cerrejón maintains a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which serves as a transit home to house animals in optimal conditions. This center promotes the management, recovery, breeding, and release of endangered species, contributing to their future survival in the wild. Some threatened species are incubated, developed, and grown here, contributing to the region's repopulation efforts. Examples include:

American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)
Cerrejón has led a conservation program for the American crocodile since 2011, successfully recovering, caring for, and releasing them back to their natural habitat, contributing to the repopulation of this species. However, as of 2021, a pioneering reproductive program for this vulnerable species began, achieving the nesting and incubation of these specimens. By the end of last year, nine alligators completed the evolution to the reproductive phase and were released in collaboration with the regional environmental authority of La Guajira, Corpoguajira, representing a joint effort to preserve this endangered species.

Hicotea turtle (Trachemys callirostris)
Since 2019 Cerrejón has intensified its conservation efforts for the hicotea turtle (Trachemys callirostris). The program has successfully released 5,642 turtles. In 2023, over 1,500 were released in the La Esperanza private reserve and Bruno creek, in collaboration with Corpoguajira. The company incubates and protects the turtles before releasing them into their natural habitat, significantly contributing to the population increase and survival of this endangered species.

Jaguar (Panthera Onca)
Due to the success of Cerrejón´s rehabilitation program and its commitment to protecting key conservation areas, the jaguar returned to La Guajira in 2015 when it was spotted after 39 years of having been considered locally extinct. Today, more than 10 jaguars (both adults and cubs) have been identified by Cerrejon’s trap cameras moving through the Ranchería River valley, an area the company has protected and restored. These magnificent cats, such as "Alpha", "Onca" and "Khan", are vital for the biodiversity connectivity and serve as indicators of healthy ecosystems and water presence in the area.

Cerrejón is committed to the conservation of endangered species and contributes to generating open biodiversity data, which helps generate discussions and actions plans for the conservation of our biodiversity. Furthermore, it has established conservation agreements with local communities living in the Wüin Manna biological corridor, fostering harmonious coexistence with endangered species.