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Colombia is an equatorial country located in the western corner of South America, where young, high mountains permit the existence of a large range of climates: they form sub-desertic to rainy forest in the lowlands to permanent snow and ice in elevations more than 5000 m a.s.l. A complex geological history also contributes to give the country a great diversity of rocks, landscapes, soils, and biota. Numerous natural processes are active including tectonics and volcanism, glacial processes, mass movements, and river erosion and transport. From multiple natural landscapes emerging from this situation, 17 have been selected to give the reader a comprehensive idea of the complexity of the country's natural environment. These geomorphosites are in the mountainous areas and are located from the Caribbean Sea to near the Ecuadorian border.

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More than 75% of Colombia's 42 million people live in urban areas located in the mountains and are exposed to numerous natural hazards: floods, flash floods, landslides, earthquakes and volcanism. The Armero disaster of 1985 triggered the creation of the National System for Disaster Prevention and Relief. National, regional and local committees started to operate across the country, accompanied by education commissions that produced diverse audiovisual materials to help educate people living in these areas. The experiences of working with local committees gained during the last two decades are presented here. Case histories are from cities such as Pereira, Manizales and Medellín, where the local committees are run by people with little or no formal education but who understand that they must participate as a group to prevent or mitigate the effects of natural disasters. The co-operation between technical experts and trained residents represents an outstanding example of good communication and co-operation for urban populations living in dangerous areas. Although many problems have yet to be resolved, these case histories show that this type of organization seems to be more effective than direct intervention from national government agencies. The models of community participation and communication developed and refined here may have application to similar social environments in other countries.

El Complejo Volcánico y Glacial Ruiz-Tolima (CVGRT) evidencia los procesos climáticos y tectónicos que han incidido en la formación de la cordillera de los Andes. Mediante la elaboración de un inventario de geomorfositios referenciados espacialmente y con una evaluación de los elementos científicos y adicionales, se plantea la creación de un sistema de georutas o itinerarios geológicos, los cuales ejemplifican cada una de las condiciones que hacen especial la zona de estudio. Dichas georutas sirven como insumo para la creación de una herramienta de geoturismo en procura del aprovechamiento y la conservación de los lugares de interés geomorfológico.