About us
Team and governance
Governance structure, legal representation, and operational team at Fundación Loros.
Institutional framework
Governance
Chapter VI of the bylaws defines four bodies: the Permanent Founder, the General Assembly of Associates, the Legal Representative (principal and alternate), and the Fiscal Auditor. The Assembly operates in an advisory capacity while the Permanent Founder is active, and assumes full decision-making authority when the Permanent Founder ceases to hold the role (article 25).
The Permanent Founder serves ad honórem (article 12, paragraph 4). This condition is structural to the lean operating model described in article 14 and serves as a safeguard against the diversion of resources toward governance expenses.
Formal charges
Governing bodies
Permanent Founder
Alejandro Daniel Rigatuso
Ad honorem position · Principal Legal Representative
Deputy Legal Representative
Angélica Cecilia Mármol Venegas
Fiscal Auditor
Active role
Full details in the next management report
General Assembly of Associates
Advisory role
Full decision-making authority when the Permanent Founder steps down — Art. 25
Who makes it happen
The team
Director ad honorem
Alejandro Rigatuso
Deputy legal representative · Public accountant
Angélica Mármol Venegas
Independent certified public accountant specializing in tax management; she supports the administrative and fiscal governance of the Fundación. What connects her to this land is her love of nature, animals, and the simple life of the countryside.
Veterinarian · Clinical care
Ana María Ariza
Veterinarian and animal scientist, graduated with honors, she has led clinical care for psittacines at Fundación Loros since 2023. She is a lecturer in the wildlife track and coordinates the Health Nucleus at Fundación Universitaria San Martín.
Field coordinator
Alberto Martínez
Field manager since the Foundation's first day; the person most responsible for the facilities and the daily care of every animal in the sanctuary. His constant presence keeps the day-to-day rescue, rehabilitation, and release operation running.
They support the process
Advisory board
Scientists and specialists who guide our rehabilitation and reintroduction protocols.
Scientific Advisor · The Macaw Society · Texas A&M
Donald Brightsmith
Co-director of The Macaw Society; has worked with wild psittacines in Peru since 1993. Doctor of Zoology from Duke University, associate professor of Ecosystem Health at Texas A&M, and author of more than 75 scientific papers on parrot conservation.
Advisor · Free flight and reintroduction (Liberty Wings)
Chris Biro
Founder and executive director of Bird Recovery International and Liberty Wings; he has trained psittacines in free flight since 1993 and develops scientific methods for their reintroduction to the wild. In 2022 he led the release of blue-and-yellow macaws in Brazil. Active projects in Honduras, Brazil, and Colombia.
Mentor in wildlife rehabilitation
Tinka Plese
Croatian zoologist based in Colombia since 1988. Founder and director of Fundación AIUNAU, a pioneer in the rehabilitation and release of sloths, anteaters and armadillos. Author of the «Manual de rehabilitación de psitácidos neotropicales» (Manual for the Rehabilitation of Neotropical Psittacines).
Bringing their craft to the sanctuary
Featured collaborators
Independent professionals who bring their expertise to the sanctuary — guiding walks, assessing animal welfare, recording what happens in the field.
Professional nature guide · Colombian Caribbean avifauna
Maicol González Guzmán
Professional nature guide with more than three years of experience in bird watching, specialized in the avifauna of the Colombian Caribbean and in interpreting the tropical dry forest — Colombia's most threatened ecosystem. At Fundación Loros he has registered over 200 bird species. He guides both travelers and local communities on observation walks and environmental education tours.
Veterinarian · Animal welfare and ethology
Alessandra Flórez
Doctor of veterinary medicine and animal science, specialized in animal welfare and ethology. She combines hands-on wildlife experience with small-animal clinical practice — a perspective that reads both the released parrot's behavior and the patient still in rehabilitation.
Environmental oversight and compliance
Supervising environmental authority
Fundación Loros conducts its operations under the supervision of the Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Canal del Dique (CARDIQUE), the competent environmental authority for northern and central Bolívar. The Foundation is registered in the Wildlife Friends Network through Resolution No. 1972 of December 28, 2022 and its subsequent acts.
Our management adheres to the environmental authority's guidelines and addresses its requirements in a timely manner. Periodic controls and ongoing feedback underpin the continuous improvement of our rescue, rehabilitation, and release processes and our compliance with applicable regulations.
The logo identifies the environmental authority that exercises oversight; its use does not imply sponsorship or partnership.
Want to join the team or collaborate as a volunteer?
We welcome national and international volunteers through the program established in our statutes. Field season dates and selection criteria are coordinated by email or WhatsApp.