The 4th National Conference and International Conference on "Paramos" (high plateau grassland ecosystems) and Cloud Andean Forests, which took place in Malaga, Santander, Colombia on November 1999 -including representatives from Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica- summarized its viewpoints in a declaration which is available in Spanish in WRM's web site:
http://www.wrm.org.uy/english/tropical_forests/paramos.html
The declaration is a well balanced analysis of the situation being faced by people and the environment, where many -including lower ranking government officials, academics, environmentalists, local peoples- support the conservation of these vulnerable ecosystems, while a few -politicians, higher ranking officials and corporations- only act in their own interest. As a result, a draft bill for the protection of the "paramo" ecosystem "has been sleeping for more than a decade on the desks of the Colombian Ministry of the Environment." The declaration ends with a call for action to protect these ecosystems and their people, including 16 specific demands.
Source: Censat Agua Viva, Bogota, Colombia.