A natural reserve for the Sabinaria magnifica palm in the Colombian Darien jungle

[Sebastian Vieira]

Hello everyone,

My name is Sebastián Vieira, and I’m writing from Colombia. I’m a naturalist and currently the Executive Director of Salvamontes Colombia, a non-profit organization focused on the conservation and restoration of threatened species and their habitats, mainly through the creation and long-term care of private natural reserves.

Although I didn’t come to conservation through a formal biology track ( I originally studied and worked as an engineer and spent many years working in telecommunications ), my interest in plants and the natural world has been with me for as long as I can remember. Over time, that curiosity slowly turned into field work, conservation projects, nature photography, and taxonomic research, especially on Pleurothallid orchids. It was that long, hands-on relationship with nature that lead me to be a co-founder of Salvamontes, and nowadays, its leader.

Andy Hurwitz invited to come and participate in PalmTalk, and share with everyone here our amazing story, so it’s really nice to finally introduce SalvaMontes and our work here, especially thanks to the invitation from the International Palm Society, whose support has been fundamental for one of the projects I care most deeply about.

That project is the Sabinaria Natural Reserve, located in the Darién region of northwestern Colombia, close to the border with Panama. This is an incredibly rich rainforest area, still poorly studied, and it happens to be the only place on Earth where the striking palm Sabinaria magnifica is found.

A few years ago, while visiting the area, it became clear that much of the known habitat of Sabinaria magnifica was privately owned and increasingly exposed to deforestation and land-use change. Given how limited the species’ distribution is, it doesn’t take much habitat loss to create serious long-term risks.

With that in mind and with crucial support from the International Palm Society, we were able to acquire and legally protect 50 hectares of tropical rainforest, securing what we believe is a meaningful portion of the global habitat and population of Sabinaria magnifica. Today, that forest is permanently protected as a private natural reserve.

What makes this especially rewarding is that Sabinaria magnifica also works as an umbrella species. By protecting its habitat, we’re also conserving many other threatened organisms that depend on the same intact forest. This includes species like the critically endangered harlequin frog Atelopus fronterizo and the rare tree Magnolia sambuensis, along with many other plants and animals that are still little known.

For us,  Sabinaria is much more than a single-species project. It reflects a broader way of doing conservation: protecting habitat first, learning directly from the field, working with local communities, and committing to long-term stewardship rather than short-term interventions.

I’m really glad to be here and look forward to learning from all of you, sharing updates from the field, and exchanging ideas about palms and their conservation around the world.

I am also sharing some images showing the Sabinaria  palm and its natural habitat.

Finally, it is very important to thank and recognize the important support and participation of biologists Norman Echavarría, Norberto López, Saul Hoyos, Gloria Galeano and Rodrigo Bernal. Without them this project would not be a reality.

PS: I will come back soon with additional information and images.

 

Warm regards from Colombia,

Sebastián

Salvamontes Colombia

[happypalms]

The world needs such conservationists like yourself. 
Great pictures, keep up the good work. 
Iam doing my bit by growing as many as I can! 

[Sebastian Vieira]

On 1/23/2026 at 3:46 PM, happypalms said:

The world needs such conservationists like yourself. 
Great pictures, keep up the good work. 
Iam doing my bit by growing as many as I can! 

Those are fantastic results, how long did germination take? Are you using orchid bark substrate?

[happypalms]

32 minutes ago, Sebastian Vieira said:

Those are fantastic results, how long did germination take? Are you using orchid bark substrate?

Not very long at all to germinate 5 to 8 weeks, bottom heating 30 degrees Celsius, coco coir perlite mix just slightly damp for germination. My growing medium is 60 percent coco peat, 30 percent good quality potting mix, 20 percent perlite, with volcanic crushed rock powder. I don’t overwater them as seedlings they don’t like too much water especially in winter. I also use Agrifos a systemic fungicide for root disease. I have some in my garden in black sandy loam soil. 

[Zeeth]

This is awesome news, thanks for sharing!

[flplantguy]

I love seeing success stories in a world of high challenges to conservation.  Thanks for your hard work!

[Sebastian Vieira]

15 hours ago, happypalms said:

Not very long at all to germinate 5 to 8 weeks, bottom heating 30 degrees Celsius, coco coir perlite mix just slightly damp for germination. My growing medium is 60 percent coco peat, 30 percent good quality potting mix, 20 percent perlite, with volcanic crushed rock powder. I don’t overwater them as seedlings they don’t like too much water especially in winter. I also use Agrifos a systemic fungicide for root disease. I have some in my garden in black sandy loam soil. 

Fantastic results, congratulations. Thank you for the useful information.

[Sebastian Vieira]

An interesting and beautiful ecological interaction that we were able to observe during our last visit to the reserve, was this group of Pygmy fruit eating bats (Artibeus phaeotis), modifying and using a leaf of Sabinaria magnifica as their daytime roost.

Sabinaria is possibly an important resource for this bat species in the area.

[Kim]

It is a pleasure to read your introduction and the good news about the reserve for Sabinaria magnifica. Congratulations on your success in establishing the reserve.

I hope it is indeed legally and permanently protected. So many times we read about reserves that are "protected" but then local people continue with past practices that are detrimental to nature. How do you manage to truly protect the reserve?

I realize this is in a remote area, but I wonder if now it is possible to visit the reserve? The IPS went to Colombia in 2018, but at the time it was deemed too dangerous to visit the Sabiniaria habitat. Has the situation changed?

This is a beautiful palm, sure wish I had a few! 

[aabell]

Sebastián, 

I've met several people here in the US at orchid events who speak highly of your organization and the value of your conservation work. As someone who loves palms just as much as orchids I'm very excited to see this project. Thanks for sharing and the photos are wonderful as well. 

 

[Sebastian Vieira]

On 4/27/2026 at 6:21 PM, happypalms said:

Not very long at all to germinate 5 to 8 weeks, bottom heating 30 degrees Celsius, coco coir perlite mix just slightly damp for germination. My growing medium is 60 percent coco peat, 30 percent good quality potting mix, 20 percent perlite, with volcanic crushed rock powder. I don’t overwater them as seedlings they don’t like too much water especially in winter. I also use Agrifos a systemic fungicide for root disease. I have some in my garden in black sandy loam soil. 

By the way... what was your % of germinating seeds? I am trying to gather data that could be useful for us starting propagation activities in the reserve.

[Sebastian Vieira]

20 hours ago, aabell said:

Sebastián, 

I've met several people here in the US at orchid events who speak highly of your organization and the value of your conservation work. As someone who loves palms just as much as orchids I'm very excited to see this project. Thanks for sharing and the photos are wonderful as well. 

 

Thank you so much, it is really encouraging to read that. 

[Sebastian Vieira]

21 hours ago, Kim said:

It is a pleasure to read your introduction and the good news about the reserve for Sabinaria magnifica. Congratulations on your success in establishing the reserve.

I hope it is indeed legally and permanently protected. So many times we read about reserves that are "protected" but then local people continue with past practices that are detrimental to nature. How do you manage to truly protect the reserve?

I realize this is in a remote area, but I wonder if now it is possible to visit the reserve? The IPS went to Colombia in 2018, but at the time it was deemed too dangerous to visit the Sabiniaria habitat. Has the situation changed?

This is a beautiful palm, sure wish I had a few! 

Hi, thank you for your interest.

We (Salvamontes is a registered non-profit in Colombia) bought the land from the previous owner and am working with him and his family in establishing joint conservation and restoration activities, as he still owns a big adjacent piece of land. Now we are in the process of raising funds for building some basic infrastructure for visitors and a permanent forest ranger, and the idea is to establish a long term conservation and recovery plan for the Sabinaria magnifica, while also expand the area of the reserve in the future through the purchase of additional land.

By the way, anyone willing tu support this project can send donations through our 501c3 fiscal sponsor in the USA: https://conservationallies.org/partners/corporacion-salvamontes/?give=PGD9N3E4

It will be possible to visit the reserve once we build the new infrastructure and have a permanent forest ranger.

Kind regards,

 

Sebastian