Colombian ornithologist, Lehmann Valencia was passionate about the conservation of Colombia's natural resources and was active in research, legislation and education. Born in Popoyán his grandfather, Friedrich Carl Lehmann, was a German explorer in Colombia. He was bought up by his grandfather, a researcher and naturalist who owned a large library and taught him about biology and geography. Between 1929 and 1934 Lehmann Valencia studied at the University of Cauca in his native city. He married Ana Luisa Olano Arboleda and by the time they moved to Bogotá in 1938 they had three children. He had been offered a job in the Institute of Botany (now the Institute of Natural Sciences) at the National University of Colombia by the influential botanist and conservationist Enrique Pérez Arbeláez. At this time the Institute had received a large collection of animal specimens in very poor condition and Lehmann Valencia was put in charge of these, travelling all over the country collecting specimens to aid in his cataloguing and further the knowledge of Colombian fauna.

He became extremely interested in ornithology and was involved with the International Committee for the protection of Birds, which in turn led to his interest in conservation legislation. During the 1940s his work led to the creation of several decrees detailing the amounts and times of year that it was legal to hunt and fish certain species, setting boundaries to preserve diversity. Between 1956 and 1961 he was the assessor of natural resources and forest life for the Ministry of Agriculture in Valle and Cauca, bringing to attention the degradation he saw in many areas of Colombia. Lehmann Valencia's work at this time led to the creation of three new national parks: Reserva Natural de Sonso, Parques Nacionales Naturales de los Farallones de Cali y Puracé and Parque de los Nevados. He was also involved in many international conservation organisations including the IUCN and the WWF.

Lehmann Valencia moved to Cali to take part in a project at the University of Valle, collecting and classifying the birds of western Colombia, financed by Rockerfeller and Harvard Universities. By 1955 his collections numbered over 1,100. In 1963 he founded the departmental Museum of Natural Sciences in Cali, creating a centre for scientific research and education and most importantly a means to publicise his conservation message. Lehmann Valencia had made many documentaries about the consequences of deforestation, pollution, over fishing and the problem of soil erosion and created a film club called 'Cine-8' where these were shown along with general geographical films. In 1974, just after his death the museum was named after him: 'Museo de Ciencias Naturales Federico Carlos Lehmann Valencia'.