**2. Methodology**

The research presented on the current situation of the high Andean forests summarizes the research products carried out by the author in several periods on the equatorial high Andean ecosystems.

First period (1986–1995): As a public official of the National Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (INDERENA) I toured a large part of the Andean mountains attending aspects of conservation, management, and management of environmental conflicts in the Eastern and Central mountain ranges and in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta [1].

Second period (2002–2006). As an advisor to Non-Governmental Organizations and the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development for the evaluation of the implementation of the National Policy on Ecosystems of the High Andean Mountain [2].

Third period (2006–2022). As an advisor and member of social organizations for the defense of water and moors against energy mining extractivism.

Throughout this investigative process following the parameters of the methodological approach of research, Acción Participativa (IAP), method proposed, by the sociologist Orlando Fals Borda, was recognized nationally and internationally as an appropriate method for this type of socioecological work [3]. This method basically consists of a dialog with the communities and local actors of a territory, known as a dialog of knowledge.
