The hydrographic basin of ‘Rio Banco’ is situated in the Municipality of Manizales, 1.6 kilometers from the urban area. It was named as the third AICA of this country by the Institute of Biological Resources Research ‘Alexander Von Humboldt’ on April 11th 2003.

The AICAs are:

Places of international importance for the birds conservation.

Practical conservation tools.

Are chosen following established standards.

Must be big enough to lodge self-sustainable populations.

Must protect its environment and at the same time be different from it.

Must include the system of protected areas already existing.

Are not suitable for all birds kinds, and for some are only appropriate in a part of its distribution.

Must be part of a wider conservation planning that includes animals protection, places and habitat.

The AICAs are places identified for the conservation of:

Birds threatened of extinction, at national or international level.

Birds of particular genetic interest of almost endemic.

Birds natural of biomas or zoo-geographic areas.

Clusters (nesting colonies, resting places, hibernation areas, migrant areas).

The principal goal of the AICAs program is to identify and protect a net of critical areas for the viability of natural population of birds, keeping in mind that the protection of birds is possible if these areas are protected. This program also looks for the identification and documentation of the most important places for the birds conservation, so that it has arguments to develop national strategies and influence regional and world agreements.