Flying the Link over Colombia, in search of new species
Niviuk pilots Ramón Morillas and Vicente Palmero were exploring the Andes mountain range in Colombia in February to study the biodiversity of some isolated moorlands, participating in the scientific research project of Colombian biologist and entomologist Carlos Prieto. The aim was to search for new species and, in particular, for endemic species of butterflies and beetles in isolated places at an altitude between 3,000 and 4,000 m.
The Colombian biologist is dedicated to searching for, discovering and naming new species of insects, especially butterflies, bees and beetles. It is not for nothing that he has the largest personal collection of butterflies in Colombia. To do so, he spends entire days in the forests, bivouacking in order to reach the desired moorlands. Getting there by paramotor, with the equipment on your back, the expeditions are much more practical and fruitful, without having to spend so many days outdoors.
The process
The team spent months discussing and preparing for the challenge together, determining the equipment they wanted to take, studying the areas, the weather and, in short, seeing how to minimise the risks that this type of adventure always entails. Ramón used his Link 2 23 and Vicente his Link 25 paramotor wings.
In the end, they decided to fly to three moorlands: Frontino, Belmira and Farallones de Citará. In all three places the weather is similar, the wind comes from the east and is quite strong, reinforced in the morning with thermal breezes and making launching complicated from 11 o'clock onwards.
The view from above provides a lot of information
Moorlands are relatively flat areas, where close vegetation gives way to shrubs, grasslands, ponds and wetlands. As geographically isolated places, they have given rise to numerous endemic insect species, many of them still waiting to be discovered by man. It is a paradise for scientists studying biodiversity.
"On this expedition we have been able to determine that it is not only possible to land and collect in the area, but that an aerial view gives us invaluable information for scientific study," explains Ramón. "We were also able to see that will be impossible to land on all of the moors, as some of them are dangerous places to fly because of their terrain. We didn’t manage to see any new species, but we did manage to collect quite a few butterflies, demonstrating that it is possible, and that one day we will probably discover new species. And most importantly, teamwork always pays off," he concludes.
Watch the video of the adventure here.
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