The Andes is of particular interest because of its known importance as a biodiversity hot spot, as a provider of water to a grand human population, and its vulnerability to climate change and deforestation. The Andean forest stand as the second most fragmented natural habitat In Colombia. Recent causes of deforestation in this region has shifted to illicit crops and cattle grazing. From 2007–2010, 340,842 Ha of forest were lost, while 633 Ha of illicit crops and 225,279 Ha of pastures were added. The Deforestation rate of 0.67% found in the Colombian Andes is higher than the average deforestation rate reported for South American forests 0.38%. However, low lands in this region experience deforestation at higher rates than mountain lands because the population is mainly concentrated in mountain top areas. From 1990 to 2005 montane forests went from 7,335,125 ha to 6,405,591 ha (0.63%), and for lowland forest change from 3,671,768 ha to 3,123,369 ha (0.75%). Throughout the decades, deforestation in the Colombian Andean zone has only accelerated (Vina). By 1998, 69% of the Andean forest and 30% of the lowland Andean forests were cleared. In 2000 the remaining natural cover in Los Andes was 39%, that means that over 60% of its natural coverage has been lost and today this region continues to through natural resource extraction including exploitation, settlement and deforestation. Deforestation was mostly accounted to cropping 32% and cattle ranching activities for its remaining. In the montane forest deforestation was affected by land tenure of small parcels, road, water presence, and temperature. In the lowlands deforestation was associated with population, crops (licit and illicit), protected areas and temperature. The introduction of the oil industry in the 1990s and its promise of high wages has generated deforestation and migration of local farmers who abandoned their pasture maintenance to enter the extraction industry. Colombia had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.26/10, ranking it 26th globally out of 172 countries. Biodiversity loss Birds loss in Los Andes Colombia holds 18% of the world's bird species. The Andes alone is one of the most diverse areas in the world. However, bird species specifically in the San Lucas Andean mountain ranges are endangered. The absence of government protection from armed conflict in San Lucas has facilitated the cultivation of coca crops and deforestation, which has resulted in local biodiversity loss. In some areas in the Western Andes concentrations