As one of the world's most biodiverse countries, Colombia is determined to lead by example when it hosts an upcoming UN summit to save nature, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad told AFP on Monday.

Set to run from October 21 to November 1 in the western city of Cali, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity offers a pivotal moment to assess global progress toward the ambitious goal of protecting 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans by 2030.

"We've created a platform to put biodiversity on top of the global political agenda," said Muhamad, noting that more than 100 ministers and 12 heads of state, including Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Mexico's incoming president Claudia Sheinbaum, are expected to attend.

"As a biodiverse country, we also see the potential for our country and our region: it's a Latin American moment," she added, speaking at the United Nations in New York.

Few countries can rival Colombia's vast diversity of species and ecosystems, from the Andean highlands to the Amazon rainforest. Colombia ranks first globally in bird and orchid species diversity and second in plants, butterflies, freshwater fish and amphibians.

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