COLOMBIA

Colombia is the second most biodiverse country on earth and is home to 10% of the worlds species, including more than 1,800 species of birds, 623 species of amphibians, 467 species of mammals, 518 species of reptiles and 3,200 species of fish. This biodiversity is due to Colombia's varied terrain, which includes tropical rainforests, open savannahs and coastal cloud forests.

On paper almost 10% of the country is under some form of protection, but there are still increasing threats to its ecosystems. According to UN figures, Colombia was losing 200,000 ha of natural forest per year in the early years of this century, but it is likely that the figure is much higher as an estimated 100,000 ha of forest are illegally cleared each year. Most of this loss occurs in primary forest, which covers 80% of the country.

The main reasons for deforestation are small-scale agriculture, logging, mining, energy development, infrastructure projects and the cocaine trade. Gold mining and palm oil plantations are causing particular destruction in coastal regions, clearing forests and polluting rivers. Coca production is having a significant impact on forest cover and is grown by hundreds of small farmers because of the lucrative earnings. In November 2008, the Colombian Vice President said that 133,000 ha of rainforest are being cleared each year for coca cultivation, and that, in the last 15 years, the country has lost over 2 million ha of forest to coca cultivation. Efforts to crack down on the trade often involve aerial spraying, which is non-discriminatory and kills other plants and crops in the area; it is also thought that the production is simply being pushed into more biodiverse dense forest areas.

ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organisation) says the overall forest management situation in Colombia is 'not clear'. Whilst there is new forestry legislation, forest management plans have been developed, and forest policy emphasises protection, conservation and forest restoration, there is inadequate control on the ground. Illegal logging is widespread and given a low priority due to the levels of violence and lawlessness in much of the country.

Colombia is a member of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) which has developed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and a platform for dialogue between national forestry authorities, and is examining the potential for digital surveying of the regions vegetation cover. ACTO believes that the REDD mechanism provides an opportunity for Amazon countries to design policies to rectify environmental degradation.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
01/12/2012	Atlas of Pressures and Threats to Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon This report presents a complementary and integrated view of different forms of intervention in the Amazon ...	Amazonian Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG)
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11/01/2011	Forests and Drugs: Coca-Driven Deforestation in Tropical Biodiversity Hotspots The authors say taht identifying drivers of deforestation in tropical biodiversity hotspots is critical ...	Environmental Science & Technology
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01/12/2010	Chainsaw Milling: Supplier to Local Markets Chainsaw milling, the on-site conversion of logs into lumber using chainsaws, is supplying a large proportion ...	ETFRN (European Tropical Forest Research Network)
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
19/02/2013	International raid targets illegal timber trade Interpol has announced that it arrested nearly 200 people in a wide-ranging international operation against ...	BBC
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29/01/2013	NASA data registers strong deforestation signals in Sumatra, Borneo, Brazil, Gabon NASA satellites picked up signals of extensive potential deforestation in Sumatra, Borneo, Central Africa, ...	Mongabay.com
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31/12/2012	The year in rainforests 2012 was another year of mixed news for the world's tropical forests. This is a look at some of ...	Mongabay.com
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06/12/2012	Deforestation rate falls across Amazon rainforest countries The average annual rate of deforestation across Amazon rainforest countries dropped sharply in the second ...	Mongabay.com
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16/11/2012	Colombia gets world's first VCS validated and verified REDD project on collective lands A conservation project in Colombia has broken new ground in the world of forest carbon credits. The project, ...	Mongabay.com
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03/10/2012	Agricultural expansion: an “either or more” factor in deforestation ...	Responding to Climate Change (RTCC)
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18/09/2012	An inside look at Latin America’s illegal logging – part one This post was co-authored with Eduardo Arenas Hernández Jr. and Ana Domínguez, who work ...	World Resources Institute (WRI) Insights
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06/09/2012	Guess who's chopping down the Amazon now? Though Brazil's Amazon has been the focus of environmental groups for decades, the deforestation ...	NPR (National Public Radio), Washington, US
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31/08/2012	Amazon forest threat is greater outside Brazil In Ascencion, Bolivia — On a scorching afternoon in the Amazon, all Agustin Villa and his partner ...	The Washington Post, US
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25/07/2012	Forest carbon monitoring breakthrough in Colombia Using new, highly efficient techniques, Carnegie and Colombian scientists have developed accurate high-resolution ...	Physorg.com
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28/06/2012	Colombia eyes greenhouse gas cuts through forest protection Sao Paulo - Colombia plans to have in place 10 months from now a new system to measure deforestation, ...	Chicago Tribune, US
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08/06/2012	Colombia seizes 450 tons of illegal timber The Colombian military seized 450 tons of illegally felled timber in the Pacific port of Buenaventura, ...	InSight Crime, US / Colombia
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16/05/2012	Obama’s biggest climate decision of the year may be … palm oil? by Glenn Hurowitz The Obama administration is poised to make one of the biggest climate policy decisions ...	Think Progress, US
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14/05/2012	Representatives of the Amazon countries participate in the Monitoring Project Steering Committee The first meeting of Steering Committee of Project “Monitoring Deforestation, Land Use and Land ...	ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation)
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16/02/2012	ACTO countries explore possible cooperation to combat illegal timber harvesting The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) held a workshop on the control of illegal harvesting ...	IISD Biodiversity Update
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27/01/2012	'Massacre' of Colombian forests has to stop: Santos Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos warned Friday the country had lost 10% of its forest in the last ...	Colombia Reports
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09/01/2012	Peruvian gangs traffic timber from Brazil Peruvian groups carry out illegal logging in Brazil before transporting the wood along tributaries of ...	InSight Crime, US / Colombia
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14/12/2011	Report: Colombia's coca crop a forest killer A new study says more than 3,000 square miles (800,000 hectares) of Colombia's woodlands have been ...	ABC News, US
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27/11/2011	8 Amazon countries pledge more coordination in rainforest conservation Eight Amazon countries pledged greater cooperation in efforts to protect the world's largest rainforest ...	Mongabay.com
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22/11/2011	Amazon countries vow to enhance conservation efforts Manaus, Brazil — Eight South American countries pledged Tuesday to boost cooperation to protect ...	AFP
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31/08/2011	Colombia declares war on timber trafficking mafia Colombia’s government announced a “crusade” against illegal logging, vowing to clamp ...	InSight Crime, US / Colombia
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29/08/2011	42% of Colombian timber illegal, worth $60 million a year Forty-two percent of the wood bought and sold in Colombia comes from illegally felled trees, a trade ...	Colombia Reports
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30/04/2011	Climate change measures must be made corruption proof As governments prepare to spend up to US$100 billion annually by 2020 to limit climate change and prepare ...	Transparency International
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30/03/2011	2.1M acres of Colombia's Amazon lost: Govt Colombia's environment minister has warned that the forests of the Colombian Amazon are in a critical ...	Colombia Reports
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27/01/2011	Cocaine production increases destruction of Colombia’s rainforests Scientists from Stony Brook University are reporting new evidence that cultivating coca bushes, the source ...	Newswise
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20/01/2011	Coca farming linked to deforestation in Colombia Coca plantations are associated with major deforestation in tropical forests in Colombia's sparsely ...	Chemical & Engineering News
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14/10/2010	Colombian president promises new commitment to tackling climate change Bogota - Recently elected President Juan Manuel Santos wants Colombia to take on a greater leadership ...	Reuters AlertNet
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14/05/2010	Armed Colombian loggers arrested in Venezuela Caracas – Nineteen undocumented Colombians armed with rifles were arrested while engaged in illegal ...	Latin American Herald Tribune
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16/10/2009	S. American bishops take stand in rain forest crunch Lima, Peru - Ever since the Spanish conquistadors set off across the Andes in search of El Dorado, outsiders ...	Western Catholic Reporter, Canada
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30/08/2009	Roads are ruining the rainforests "The best thing you could do for the Amazon is to bomb all the roads." That might sound like ...	New Scientist
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28/08/2009	Colombia commits to stop illegal timber trade The Colombian Government together with 24 public and private sector organizations, civil society representatives ...	WWF Global Trade & Forest Network (GFTN)
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28/06/2009	Belize barrier reef, Colombia's Los Katios Park on UNESCO's danger list The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and Colombia's Los Katios National Park entered UNESCO (United ...	China View
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19/02/2009	Amazon rainforest in big trouble, says UN Economic development could doom the Amazon warns a comprehensive new report from the United Nations Environment ...	Mongabay.com
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12/02/2009	Payments for eco services could save the Amazon Paying for the ecological services provided by the Amazon rainforest could be the key to saving it, reports ...	Mongabay.com
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18/11/2008	Illegal drug use destroys rainforests Colombian officials have re-iterated their claim that cocaine use in rich countries is driving deforestation ...	Mongabay.com
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19/08/2004	Debt For Nature agreement to conserve Panama's forests On August 19, 2004, the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Panama, together ...	US Department of State
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PRESENTATIONS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
27/01/2011	FLEGTability: catalysing initiatives to control and verify the origin of timber in support of the FLEGT Action Plan in South American countries	Ulrich Malessa, TRAFFIC South America / Martha Lucy Mondragon, WWF Colombia
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17/01/2008	Forest Law Application Initiative - ALFA	Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (Carlos Aragon)
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Wednesday 20th June 2012	ACTO Member Countries Vision of Amazon Forests. Monitoring Deforestation This official Rio+20 side event is organised by ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation). ACTO ...
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LINKS

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	REPORT
'Vision' Interactive GIS Tool	This web-GIS tool currently focuses on the three study areas that are part of the IES programme on Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA). These areas are: Central Kalimantan, Indonesian part of Borneo; the Mataven region in Colombia; the transboundary region between Rwanda, Uganda and the DR Congo, in the African Great Lakes region. The tool allows users to access and analyse mapping and monitoring information, including forest cover and deforestation, thus increasing transparency and fostering accountability.	Broken link
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