The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), has funded paleontological field work in several sites across Colombia. One of them isLa Venta, among the most diverse paleontological sites of all South America and an important point of reference for paleontologists. Over the past 100 years, scientists from all across the world have studied this region but local people have had little contact with this valuable heritage. A group of volunteers in La Victoria, northern La Venta (Tatacoa desert, central Colombia) have been working over the past nine years to reverse this and at the same time, promote paleontological knowledge as an asset to strength the touristic value of their region. We plan to develop the first public exhibit of the Museum depicting the Miocene from Colombia based on the great amount of research that has been done in the area by geologists and paleontologists.
