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In the 75th edition of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), President Iván Duque spoke of the protection of the paramos in Colombia and launched the Global Alliance for the Protection of the Wastelands that, in addition to generating criticism, is a strategy of which no details were known.
(It may interest you: The country’s moors: are they in danger? Experts answer)
“The páramos are real drinking water factories and the birthplace of the water basins, which irrigates a large part of our territory. For this reason, the call also extends to the nations of the world to contribute resources and that we understand that the protection of the moors is a universal duty, “he said. Duke before the UN.
But, what is this strategy about, in which Duque expects the financial support of international aid workers and multilateral banks?
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the purpose of this initiative is to guarantee the conservation of these ecosystems, their goods and services, and the implementation of sustainable economic alternatives for the people who inhabit them.
But, in addition, according to MinAmbiente, A very important point is that this alliance also includes high mountain ecosystems such as glaciers and high Andean forests. The latter is an ecosystem where the company Minesa they plan to do their large-scale mining project in Santander.
(Also: Santurbán and the mining project that tries to reach Santander)
This financial instrument will be presented during the Pre COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity that will be held next year in Cali. “Likewise, on December 11, Colombia will organize the first virtual World Summit of the high mountains, in which the progress of said Alliance for the páramos, as well as a proposal of its action plan, will be presented,” said MinAmbiente.
The critics
Beyond this new alliance, criticism against the president’s speech was immediate. For many it is not coherent that the president has ensured that he is ensuring the protection of the we stopped when an environmental licensing process is currently underway for the company Minesa, an Arab multinational that plans to do large-scale mining in the high Andean forest, “a key ecosystem in the protection of the páramos”, according to Wilson Ramírez, coordinator of the Territorial Management of Biodiversity program at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute and doctor in Ecology.
“President: the Páramos are integrated with the sub-paramos and the high Andean forest. That makes it impossible to delimit them as @MinAmbienteCo intends to do. Stop it from being done and deny the environmental license to @Minesa_Col! That is what Colombians demand, ”said the mayor of Bucaramanga, Juan Carlos Cárdenas, on his Twitter account.
On the other hand, for Germán Andrande, biologist and researcher at the ODS Center, the request that the president makes to world solidarity to protect 50 percent of the moors, has the courage to put these strategically important spaces in the global spotlight, but they should not be talked about as water factories.
(You can also read: Why has 2020 been the worst year for the Boyacá páramos?)
“It is an analogy denied by ecohydrology. The response to the management of the water cycle is also within our borders, and the Government would do better to update instruments such as the rate of use and the creation of water funds to invest in the páramos, so that human populations can move towards the sustainability with equity ”, he pointed out.
But in addition to that, Andrade added that the president fell short in the message about the main Colombia’s environmental problem: deforestation.
“It featured some local achievements, but missed the opportunity for a stronger global message. The figures in absolute values of thousands of hectares recovered or that were saved from deforestation do not reveal the magnitude of the problem that is still getting out of hand, ”said Andrade.
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Ultimately, for Andrade, President Duque’s speech touches on valid issues, and its political effects remain to be seen. “But, he missed the opportunity to connect more with the expectations of the international community regarding the loss and collapse of biodiversity, the relationship of biodiversity to climate change and the human life of vulnerable populations. It is not on the political agenda to seek a new concept of global co-responsibility. It would be the forceful expression of what its own government plan says: ‘Biodiversity is a strategic asset of the Nation.’
ENVIRONMENTAL DRAFTING
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