Colombia’s limited success in checking deforestation

Colombia lost forest cover in the fragile Amazon part of the country in 2024 which was much higher than in 2023 which had the lowest rate of deforestation. But the 2024 figure of 113,608 hectares (280,700 acres) was 43 per cent higher than in 2023.

The deforestation is attributed to expanding grazing land for cattle, increase in farm land, illicit mining and haphazard growth of infrastructure in the forest areas. The Ministry of Environment report however showed that the deforestation has been on the decline for the last three years.

With 2021 as baseline, deforestation dropped by 22 per cent in 2022, by 54 per cent in 2023, and 34 per cent in 2024. The ministry has asserted that in the 2022-24 period, cumulative reduction was 39 per cent. The 2021 baseline was 174,113 acres. The figure of reduction in deforestation exceeds the 20 per cent target of the National Development Plan. Environment and Sustainability Minister Lena Estrada Anokazi said, “These figures represent the work and the commitment this government (of President Gustavo) has made to preserve forests and biodiversity.” She has conceded: “However, all the efforts we have made have not been enough, because deforestation persists.” Director of the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam) Ghisliane Echeverry said President Petro’s administration has managed to contain deforestation “to levels far below those of the previous administration.”

The Amazon Rainforest is one of the richest treasures of flora and fauna, which contain thousands of biological species, many of which have not yet been brought into a taxonomical table, and there are billions of trees spread over hundreds of thousands acres passing through many of the South American countries from Brazil at one end to the Andean mountain countries in the north-east of the continent.

Like many other natural habitat across the globe, the Amazon Rainforest had been ravaged by developmental programmes and population pressure in the countries spanning it. That is why, there is a sense of urgency when the Colombian minister declared, “I call on the entire society to start forming committees for life. We are quite concerned because the most affected territory is the Amazon – a fragile region where vulnerable populations also live. She said that there was a particular impact on the Amazon Arc, which meant “we are losing the connectivity between the Andean and the Amazonian systems.”

Colombia will host the 5th Summit of the Presidents of the States Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT) in Bogota, the national capital on August 22. The eight Amazonian countries – Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname – share the common agenda of protection, restoration and sustainable development.

Colombia is also conducting the Virtual Regional Amazon Dialogues from July 24 to August 6. The August 22 summit will adopt a joint declaration with definite plans to conserve at least 80 per cent of the Amazon forest, halt illegal deforestation and fight transnational environmental crimes, and assure transparent and participatory financial mechanisms through 2030.

Colombia is also pushing for the inclusive and participatory governance that recognises the rights of the Indigenous people and local communities. This is seen as a prelude to the global approach to the climate summit, COP30, to be held in Bessem in Brazil from November 10 to November 21. It is apparent that no global climate action would make sense unless places like the Amazon Rainforest are protected and preserved, an equivalent to preserving the polar ice in the Arctic and Antarctica. The protection of Amazon Rainforest is key to preventing the rise in global temperatures because forests are vast carbon sinks, and this is one of the ways of keeping the global green lungs functioning.