A two-storey timber field station.
Between December 2025 and June 2026, with Patrimonio Natural (Colombia’s Fund for Biodiversity and Protected Areas) and funding from KfW (German development bank), MARA built the park’s field station: a two-storey cabin with two staff bedrooms, a living area with kitchen, a work area, a bathroom, a room for the electrical system and a balcony. It stands on a lot donated by the Municipality of Sotará.
Vereda Ullucos, at almost 2,900 metres.
The station is in the rural district (vereda) of Ullucos, in Sotará (Cauca), about 2,890 metres above sea level in the Paletará valley: a cold climate of 6 to 18 °C, with possible frost, fog and frequent rain.
Saturated soils and a high-mountain climate.
Rain and a high water table required soil improvement with cyclopean concrete, a perimeter drainage ditch and the relocation of 21 metres of the rural water main that crossed the lot. The pressure-treated timber arrived late because of a breakdown at the supplier’s plant, and the weather set the pace of the work.
Pressure-treated timber and solar power.
Concrete footings, pedestals and grade beams with a waterproofing admixture; a timber frame pressure-treated with CCA salts, with a 20-year warranty; tongue-and-groove timber cladding with rock-wool insulation; aluminium windows with laminated double glazing and insulated sandwich roofing.
Power comes from six bifacial solar panels on the roof with lithium batteries. Water is stored in a 2,000-litre elevated tank and wastewater goes to a septic system with an anaerobic filter.
A warm shelter for the park team.
A station completed in June 2026, insulated for the high-mountain cold and running on its own solar power, from which the National Parks team works in the territory.
