The valley of the Otun river, of vital importance to the town of Pereira for being a source of supply of drinkable water, has been subjective to transformations in its ecosystems of middle and high mountains, with the motive of human establishment since the end of the 19th century. Nonetheless, the measures of conservation and protection of nature, initialized during the decade of the 30´s, vie with productive activities of such establishments, generating disagreements, confrontations and collisions with the institution in charge of such measures. This derived in a slow, but steady, emigration of the middle height valley of the Otun river, simultaneous with the recovery of the forest cover, reasons which explain the actual scenery of this part of the valley. This was identified from the search and historical representation of the shapes of the territory, through a dynamical diagnosis of the territory of “vereda La Suiza” since the end of the 19th century, this also being the result of the first investigative moment. Subsequently, the establishment of a historically environmental conflict for the conservation of nature was used as an element of analysis during the second investigative moment, which at the same time served as a base of argument for the motive and conclusion of this thesis: propose a general purpose of community participation of inhabitants of the “vereda La Suiza” with the management of the “Santuario de Fauna y Flora Otun Quimbaya -SFFOQ-” as an alternative management including a territory which emphasizes the protected natural areas as a strategy to conserve nature.