President Santos Announces a Decision Today
After waiting 27 years, the indigenous governments of non-municipalized areas of the Amazon finally will be able to manage the money from their national government transfers without intermediaries.
In Leticia, the Presidency, the Ministries of the Interior, Finance and Agriculture, DANE (the Colombian national statistics agency and the Colombian National Planning Department recognized the governments of 36 indigenous reserves that occupy 26 million hectares of practically intact territory and that had existed in a state of legal limbo with respect to territorial zoning that prevented them, in effect, from governing what is theirs by law.
Breaking News: The Colombian Amazon Has the Same Rights as a Person
Colombia’s Supreme Court issued a historic ruling combating climate change in Latin America. According to the decision, the Amazon region is now subject to rights, similar to those assigned to the Atrato River, and the Presidency and regional entities must act urgently to protect it from deforestation.
Read MoreComida por árboles: la deforestación en el medio río Caquetá
Take a trip to the frontier of deforestation in the Colombian Amazon, where illicit actors are coercing local indigenous communities to cut down valuable trees through systems of insurmountable debt. (2018, Spanish)
Read MoreDeforestation Hotspots in the Colombian Hotspots, part 2: La Paya, Putumayo
This report focuses on a deforestation hotspot surrounding La Paya National Park in the Putumayo Department of Colombia. (2017, English and Spanish)
Read MoreStorytelling empowers indigenous people to conserve their environments
Indigenous storytelling is a powerful tool for preserving biocultural diversity, says Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, an environmental researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Having heard stories in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Kenya and Madagascar, he has now proposed that storytelling could transform how conservationists work with native peoples. The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) embodies this philosophy. ACT partners with South American indigenous communities to preserve rainforests and traditional culture.
Read MoreLegalization of Indigenous Territories in Colombia
Learn about the important role of indigenous land rights in tropical forest conservation and see how recent advances in indigenous land titling in Colombia are supporting regional conservation efforts. (2017, English and Spanish)
Read MorePatterns of Deforestation in the Colombian Amazon
This report illustrates the major deforestation hotspots in the Colombian Amazon between 2001 and 2015 and investigates an important hotspot on the Caguán River. (2017, English and Spanish)
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