Open Access

Jan-Peter Frahm

• “El Refugio” Biological Station will be open as of Juni 1989 for persons or organizations of all nationalities. The station offers logistic support for activities with educational, conservational or research purposes. The station is located in a mountainous region at elevations of 1600 to 1900 m, on the western versant of the western cordillera of Colombia. It lies 23 km away from Cali (see below), on the road to Buenaventura, the most important road crossing the Chocó biogeographical region (Buenaventura is the most important seaport on the Colombian Pacific coast). The biological station includes 14 ha of relatively undisturbed, species-rich forest, and 9 ha of open lands. The latter include orchard, pasture and garden areas. “El Refugio” is owned by a colomian family concerned with the conservation of natural resources and especially with endangered plant species. Since its acquisition 10 years ago, the open areas have been considerably enriched with numerous living collections of andean plants.