Foundation Montecito was founded in Sogamoso (Boyacá, Colombia) on June 5, 2010.
Here we share some of the most significant moments in our history.

• 1999-2010
• 2010-2013
• 2014-2017
• 2018-2019

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• 1999-2009: Years prior to the creation of Foundation Montecito.
• 1999: Juanita and Felipe, soon-to-be founders, return to Sogamoso due to a tragedy after living in England for just over two years. It is a year of personal and family adjustments.
• 2002-2003: Our marriage, and in 2003 the birth of our son.
• 2003-2007: We continue our dedication to family activities while searching for a place on the shores of Lake Tota. Finally, we acquire it, with the intention of having a place to rest there.
• 2007: We decide to lease the property to a trout-farming company without knowing the environmental impacts of this practice.
• 2008-2009: The visible impacts of trout-farming on the lake lead us to a strong awakening of consciousness, and gradually we begin to know and understand the environmental reality of this territory.
• 2010: It is clear that we have found there a call to commitment. We debate whether to sustain actions on a personal level, or create a non-profit entity to channel our desire to contribute to a change in practices towards the sustainability of high mountain ecosystems, especially wetlands. We opt for the latter, as a way to display civic and family commitment on the subject.
• 2009-2010: A blog is created for the nascent Foundation Montecito, with some previous publications (2009), and some initial reflections the year of creation of our NGO (2010).
• 2010: We choose the name "Montecito" for the NGO, to represent our affection for the mountains and the biodiversity they host - scenarios that we are interested in caring for and reproducing.

• 2010: [June 5] Through Act # 001, Juanita and Felipe create Foundation Montecito, registered in the Sogamoso Chamber of Commerce as No. 4723 Book I ESAL, registration # S-0501105, NIT 900371457-8. It is a private and family-based NGO, a non-profit organization.
• 2010: We start Popular Action in the Administrative Court of Boyacá in defense of Lake Tota, as a result of trout fish-farming in cages established in the cove of Guáquira.
• 2010: We co-participate in the organization of the 1st Blue Forum - Water Conversation, held in Sogamoso, which has various presentations associated with the topic to help raise awareness and motivate actions on different fronts - see details.
• 2010: We enter the World Wetlands Network (WWN).
• 2011: We start learning land management aimed at designating Lake Tota as a Ramsar site.
• 2011: We manage to negotiate a Municipal Agreement that grants tax incentives to the Natural Reserves of Civil Society (RNSC), in Sogamoso.
• 2011: We bring to Sogamoso talk about the RNSC as a part of National Natural Parks (PNN).
• 2011: We welcome our first foreign volunteers. Or H., from Israel, travels to Gámbita in support of education with a language exchange at the Rural School of Chinatá.
• 2011: [Dec 21] The "Causa Tota" is born, with an Open Letter in defense of Lake Tota (see Causa Tota).
• 2012: [January] The Open Letter in defense of Lake Tota is published in El Espectador.
• 2012: We manage and lead the Globo Gris award for Lake Tota, an international diploma for wetlands under threat. Diploma received in Romania, within the framework of Ramsar COP11 (see details).
• 2012: "Declaration of Playa Blanca", a small beach at Lake Tota, is signed by mayors of the province of Sugamuxi and government officials.
• 2012: We organize the event "Lago de Tota al Desnudo" (Naked at Lake Tota), to celebrate World Water Day and require National Government response and attention to the needs of the territory (see details).
• 2012: "Mocilato" is born as a forum associated with Causa Tota (see details).
• 2012: We create the first website for Foundation Montecito (see 2013 archive).
• 2012: We participate in Ramsar COP11 in Bucharest (Romania), as members of WWN.
• 2012: We create and deliver an open petition to declare Lake Tota as a Ramsar site, with about 6,000 signatures (50% online, 50% physical signatures).
• 2012: We create a site on Wikipedia with a bibliographic compilation associated with the 'Lake Tota Monster'. A dynamic forum is generated in this regard, within the international CEPA group managed by Ramsar.
• 2012: We receive tribute from the Salesian College, Duitama.
• 2013: The National Government responds to the Ramsar Laka Tota requirement, and decides to form a Permanent Working Group to assess feasibility. In addition, financial support for the management of Lake Tota, from the EU through the AFD, is announced. A meeting of persons at the Santa Inés de Corpoboyacá headquarters (Aquitania, Lake Tota) to celebrate World Wetlands Day.
• 2013: We start a long-term volunteer program with young Europeans, through the organization AFS.
• 2013: We receive the Nuffic Holland scholarship to take a short course in Integral Water Management, offered at the CDI of the University of Wageningen (Wageningen UR, Netherlands).
• 2013: We participate in the "Report Lake Tota - In Memory of Professor Richard Vollenweider" presentation given at the Agrarian University in Bogotá, by biologist Javier Molina. Determining contributions.
• 2013: We are part of the Colombian Network of Wetlands, managed by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute.
• 2013: We travel to La Cocha to exchange experiences and presentations with local actors.
• 2013: We start the VisitSugamuxi initiative as a sustainable tourism guide for international travelers in Sugamuxi, duly registered in the Sogamoso Chamber of Commerce (registration # 59194) - see details.
• 2013: A formal request is presented for the formation of a Watershed Council in Lake Tota.
• 2013: Our CEPA report associated with Muyso or 'Diabloballena' of Lake Tota is published on the Ramsar website - see here.

• 2014: Gradually, we learn more about the bird fauna of Lake Tota and its crucial importance to the ecosystem, joining ornithologist experts of the bird A. Ixobrychus in their surveys.
• 2014: We encourage the promotion of Sugamuxi as a wetland destination,from a sustainable nature tourism perspective.
• 2014: We lead the organization of a Workshop on Wetlands "Wetlands Connect Us All" at the University of Boyacá, with the participation of Chris Rostron, director of Wetland Link International, United Kingdom.
• 2014: Presentation of "Experiencia Tota", before the IUCN delegate in Costa Rica.
• 2014: We write the "Letter of Lake Tota" in a call for sensitivity and respect for this territory.
• 2014: We are appointed as sub-regional representatives of WWN, for the North-Andean countries.
• 2014: We participate in the design and execution of the 1st International Symposium on Wetlands "Tools for sustainable management" held in Boyacá University, and an associated Integral Management Workshop, with development of large academic agendas.
• 2014: We propose for the first time the "Pentagon of Lake Tota" to explain the causes underlying all the problems of this territory - see details.
• 2014: We become members of the Living Lakes Network, coordinated by the Global Nature Fund (Germany).
• 2014: With the participation of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute and expert professionals, we lay the foundations for overcoming a conflict with the fish-farming company Piscifactoría Remar, in Lake Tota.
• 2014: We participate in Conference # 14 of the Living Lakes Network, held in Nanchang (China).
• 2014: We present and call for the creation of a Network of Rural Hostels in the Lake Tota basin, with the participation of ECOTRANS (Germany).
• 2014: We promote the creation of the Lago de Tota Veeduría (Lake Tota Oversight), with more than 100 attendees to the call.
• 2014: From the Lago de Tota Veeduría, we participate in the management of the Lake Tota Watershed Council, the first of its kind in the department of Boyacá. We play an important role in the beginning of this entity as Secretary during the first year of management.
• 2015: We are beneficiaries of the PUM expert mission from the Netherlands, to strengthen capacities in integral basin management in Lake Tota.
• 2015: Our NGO logo is redesigned.
• 2015: In the Municipal Council of Sogamoso, we participate with general reflections on the environment.
• 2015: We develop valuable community workshops in Pesca and Tota, with support from the M&P company.
• 2015: We begin to generate governance associated with the Monquirá River, with an integrated watershed perspective.
• 2015: We participate in the valuable development "Green Filter" in Llano de Alarcón, Cuítiva, with the coordination of the Wetlands Foundation and the support of the Live Lakes Network as well as German entities.
• 2015: We persist in our call to designate Lake Tota as a Ramsar site.
• 2015: We participate in the organization of the cultural event "Rafael Gutiérrez-Girardot vive!" in Sogamoso, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death.
• 2015: We bring visibility to the heritage surrounding rock caves in Lake Tota, together with that of Sugamuxi.
• 2015: We distribute an educational flyer on Lake Tota to raise awareness.
• 2015: We propose resistance to an intended project in Playa Blanca at Lake Tota.
• 2015: We create an open forum with candidates for the Mayor of Sogamoso.
• 2015: We increase the process of reforestation and ecological restoration at the Xieti property on the coast of Lake Tota in the village of Guáquira.
• 2016: Increase reflections associated with Wetland Tourism.
• 2016: On International Women's Day, we highlight how important voluntary women's participation has been in the development of our activities as an NGO.
• 2016: We begin to integrate the Territorial Planning Council, in Sogamoso.
• 2016: We present to presidents and the general public in photographic exhibitions, the "Ruta de Bochica", a heritage route in Sugamuxi aimed at promoting environmentally and culturally sustainable tourism - see details.
• 2016: We publish the online version of the ABC Tota Wetlands Center: abctota.org
• 2016: We give visibility to the "Greater Muisca rock mural in Suamox".
• 2016: We strongly criticize the management of Corpoboyacá, the regional environmental authority, particularly of Playa Blanca at Lake Tota.
• 2016: We enter Lake Tota for the first time as a TOP100 Green Destination, but there is not enough time to raise collective participation and the disgnation is not achieved at this time.
• 2016: The National Forum and the Ministry of Interior recognize us as the "Best Interview in Participation" with the document "The Interview in the Clouds" (associated with the situation of Playa Blanca), in an open competition for citizen participation.
• 2016: We start participating in the radio program "The Arithmetic of Water: 3 + 4 = 10".
• 2016: We visit wetland education experience in Pereira, led by the San Miguel High School and teacher Luz Stella Tisnés, in the "Danapure" wetland of this Educational Institution.
• 2016: We participate in an NGO meeting held in Gifu (Japan), integrating the WWN team.
• 2017: We develop the "Montecito Survey" to celebrate the 7th anniversary of our NGO.
• 2017: We begin to formally present the El Muyso initiative as a cultural approach to the governance of Lake Tota, from the governance by ancestral Muisca to the present.
• 2017: We present resistance to mining exploitation interests in La Peña del Lago de Tota sector, an issue that is presented to society in disguise as a matter of risk.
• 2017: With group participation, we lead and achieve the Top100 designation as a Green Destination for Lake Tota by the Dutch organization Green Destinations. Together with Oscar Romel Rojas of the Pueblito Antiguo Nature Reserve, in Portugal we received this important award that recognizes our efforts and progress towards sustainability.
• 2017: Our current NGO logo goes live.
• 2017: We enter Land-Art activities in Lake Tota as a potential educational tool.
• 2017: Winning citizen participation experiences from Medellín, who have been interested in our Causa Tota process, visit us.
• 2017: We develop the documentary "El Muyso", as an introductory approach to this perspective of environmental and ancestral culture associated with Lake Tota.
• 2017: We visit the U'wa people for three days in the Cubará area of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy - at the Zizuma mountain range that is sacred to local indigenous peoples.

• 2018: We raise visibility of the cove of Oso as a potential sector of Lake Tota for which to pursue Ramsar designation.
• 2018: We complete the installation of 11 beehives within the Tochua Tota project (Amejas del Lago de Tota).
• 2018: Already a Top100 Global Green Destination, Lake Tota is honored with a Top3 Americas Green Destination at the ITB fair in Berlin, considered the most important tourism fair worldwide. The Vice Minister of Tourism, Sandra Howard, receives the award.
• 2018: Foundation Montecito and the Pueblito Antiguo Nature Reserve are recognized for their management in obtaining the Top3 Americas award for our lake.
• 2018: We create a webpage for our NGO projects.
• 2018: We are invited to be part of a technical working group aimed at preparing relevant inputs for a Ramsar declaration for Lake Tota. It is made up of Minambiente, Corpoboyacá, WWF Colombia, and the local civil society invited the Pueblito Antiguo Natural Reserve and Foundation Montecito. Work meetings are held in Bogotá and Tunja.
• 2018: Our Zine Canoas project seeks resources in a crowdfunding platform.
• 2018: We receive, for the first time, young indigenous volunteers from Canada, within a special program administered by Canada World Youth and its allies in Colombia, the Colombia Mundo Youth Foundation.
• 2019: We install a fog-catcher pilot project in Lake Tota, which we call GuaFaoa for a hugely important local plant with the same fog-catching ability.
• 2019: We present a report to WWN related to governance in Lake Tota on World Wetlands Day (Feb 2).
• 2019: For the second year, we advance the tax procedures required today for NGOs, in order to ensure permanence within the Special Tax Regime.
• 2019: We propose resistance and alerts due to risks associated with plans to build cable-flights and infrastructure in the territory of the Lake Tota watershed.
• 2019: We participate in the 15th Conference of the Living Lakes Network, held in Valencia (Spain), whose central theme revolved on the impacts of climate change on lakes.
• 2019: In the spirit of cooperation associated with climate change, we plant over 120 trees in the Lake Tota watershed to work towards neutralizing the carbon emissions generated with the trip to Spain. In total, we planted 141 trees and 70 garden plants, which in 3 years will have captured the gases emitted by that trip.
• 2019: We are designated as "bitter enemies" of the inhabitants of the Lake Tota basin by 11 signatories of an unexpected letter sent to two ministers, Corpoboyacá, and WWF Colombia. We sought quick legal protection in response, but it was denied twice.
• 2019: We make clear writings in defense of our dignity, regarding the offense received. Of the 11 signatories, two retract (Mayor's Office of Tota, and Asociación Asoparcela), and subsequently Corpoboyacá, in a response issued to the signatories, expressed support for the work of Foundation Montecito.
• 2019: We are beneficiaries of support from the Dutch organization The Prince Bernhard Nature Fund (PBNF), aimed at developing a conservation initiative for the endangered endemic bird, Apolinar's Wren, in the cove of Guáquira at Lake Tota. We call this project 'Cistotapolinari'.
• 2019: We enter a community association initiative called "Cusiana Ecosolidaria", aimed at privately protecting a significant area of ​​the upper basin of the Cusiana River in solidarity.
• 2019: We receive a Dutch Nuffic grant for a short course on Adaptation to Climate Change in Food Security and Natural Resources Management, to be held in Uganda between January and February 2020.
• 2019: We enter the Global Giving platform to develop capabilities and management in crowdfunding, especially for our project Cistotapolinari.