Project
Conserving the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta
Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, the largest and most productive coastal wetland in Colombia, covers 45,000 hectares. At the confluence of the Magdalena River and the Caribbean Sea, the site boasts an immense variety of flora and fauna, including mammals, birds and fish. Its southern tip is a beautiful sanctuary of mangroves, swamp and amphibious forest.
On the calm waters of the marsh stand the Ciénaga’s famous stilt villages, supported by pillars or simple wooden stakes and inhabited by local fishermen since 1800. In a place accessible only by water, many of the things we take for granted—being served a glass of water, quick access to a doctor—are considered luxuries. Residents depend on the natural world around them. Sadly, in recent years mass fish die-offs caused by the marsh’s degradation have threatened the livelihoods of 2,500 people who call the Ciénaga Grande home.
Illegal activities are destroying this vital ecosystem: intentionally set forest fires, deforestation of large tracks of land for agriculture and livestock, logging and burning of mangroves, and 27 kilometers of illegally built dikes.
This destruction not only devastates the local fishery; it also has global impact. Ciénaga Grande’s mangroves absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, aiding in the global fight against climate change.
The importance of the Ciénaga Grande has been recognized both nationally – the Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta is a national park – and internationally: UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere program declared the lagoon a biosphere reserve; and the Ciénaga Grande is listed as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty for the protection of wetlands.
AIDA and our partners are advocating for the Colombian government to fulfill its national and international obligations to protect the Ciénaga Grande. After all, millions of animals, the local community, and our global climate depend on it.
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In-danger designation requested for Pantanal wetlands in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay
On World Wetlands Day, advocates urged the Ramsar Convention Secretariat to conduct an advisory visit to wetlands severely affected by fires, and for the governments of the three countries to inscribe the sites on the global list of wetlands at risk of disappearing. Gland, Switzerland -- Civil society organizations sent an urgent alert to the Ramsar Convention today requesting a full assessment of damage caused by recent fires in the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, a natural area shared between Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. The groups requested that the Secretariat conduct an advisory mission to analyze the state of six wetlands, which the Convention has recognized as being sites of international importance, and for the wetlands to be included on the Montreux Record, a list of the world’s most at-risk wetlands. The Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), the Center for Biological Diversity and Ecologia e Ação (ECOA) sent the alert on World Wetlands Day. They also urged the three governments to urgently implement measures to preserve the Pantanal as a transboundary ecosystem. The Ramsar sites addressed in the request are the Bolivian Pantanal; the Reserva Particular do Patrimonio Natural SESC Pantanal, the Reserva Particular do Patrimonio Natural Fazenda Rio Negro, the Pantanal Matogrosense National Park and the Taiamã Ecological Station in Brazil; as well as the Rio Negro National Park in Paraguay. "A Ramsar in-danger designation is crucial to combating the Pantanal’s huge and unprecedented fires, which now threaten Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay," said Alejandro Olivera, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Public policies that promote agriculture and livestock expansion and allow burning within the Pantanal have combined with limited cross-border collaboration to create a tinderbox. Ecosystem-damaging fires will continue without stronger commitments to protect these critical wetland habitats." In 2020, fires devastated 4.3 million hectares of the Pantanal region, the highest number since monitoring began in 1998; the number of fires burning in the area was 508% more than average. That same year, fires burned 100 percent of the Pantanal National Park Matogrossense. At least 10 million animals died in just three months. Unusually large fires continued in July 2021. "We are asking the States to comply with the obligations acquired before the Convention, generating coherent mechanisms and implementing policies and norms to protect the Pantanal," explained AIDA attorney Claudia Velarde. "An advisory mission to the six Ramsar sites could provide specialized assistance to the Brazilian, Bolivian and Paraguayan governments to overcome the conditions that pose risks to the conservation and wise use of this key wetland.” Likewise, the inscription of the sites on the Montreux Record can result in economic aid, support and technical advice, for the recovery of the Pantanal in the three countries. "We sent an urgent alert for Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay to focus on the Pantanal as the world's largest transboundary freshwater wetland," said Andre Siqueira, President Director of ECOA. "The Ramsar Convention cannot achieve its objectives if the ecosystems it protects are significantly damaged by the continued use of fire, agribusiness and the lack of adequate resources to fight fires." The biodiversity and ecological richness of the Pantanal is incalculable. At least 3,500 species of plants, about 600 birds, 150 mammals, 175 reptiles, 40 amphibians and 300 freshwater fish inhabit the biome. Many are in danger of extinction in other regions, such as the tuyuyú and the jaguar, the marsh deer, the giant otter and the macaw, all emblematic species of the biome. The Pantanal is home to the highest concentration of species such as the jaguar and the caiman. press contacts: Alejandro Olivera (Mexico), Center for Biological Diversity, +52 612 1040604, [email protected] Victor Quintanilla (Mexico), AIDA, +521 5570522107, [email protected] André Luiz Siqueira (Brazil), ECOA, +55 67 33243230, [email protected]
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Celebrating 7 Advances to Close Out 2017
As the year comes to a close, we're happy to share with you several recent advances we've made in the name of environmental protection in Latin America. Each project we launch or case we win is a step toward a more just region, and a healthier planet for our children. Because of your support, we: 1. Saved Colombia’s Largest Coastal Wetland We successfully petitioned Colombia to list the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta among the world's most at-risk wetlands, opening up the resources needed for its recovery. Learn More 2. Launched the Bolivian Environmental Justice Network We founded a coalition of environmental and human rights organizations in Bolivia to support citizens’ efforts to defend the environment and those who depend on its health. 3. Campaigned to Protect Patagonia from Salmon Farms We petitioned Chile to investigate damage being done by salmon farm operations in Southern Patagonia, and launched a citizens’ campaign to raise awareness of the growing threat. Learn More 4. Secured Healthcare for Victims of Toxic Pollution We secured specialized medical care for residents of La Oroya, Peru, whose lives and health have long been affected by a heavy-polluting metal smelter that operates beside their homes. Learn More 5. Protected Sea Turtles on the High Seas We represented Latin American citizens and organizations in the development of a United Nations treaty to protect the shared parts of our ocean and the rich life within. Learn More 6. Stimulated Divestment from Mining in a Protected Wetland We convinced the World Bank to withdraw support from a gold mine in the Santurbán páramo, a protected ecosystem and water source for millions of Colombians. Learn More 7. Advised Rural Town in the Lead-Up to a Mining Ban We provided legal advice and scientific analysis to the people of Cajamarca, Colombia, who then voted by a margin of 98% to ban all mining activities from their territory. Learn More
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Hope for the Ciénaga, seed of Colombia’s magical realism
“We were in the great swamp, the Ciénaga Grande, another of the myths of my childhood.”– Gabriel García Márquez in Living to Tell the Tale, 2002. Today I learned that Colombia—thanks in part to AIDA’s supporters—took an unprecedented step to save an ecosystem central to Colombia’s identy: the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta. As a Colombian and an environmental attorney, I’m deeply moved. And so thankful to the hundreds of supporters whose petition signatures helped move the government to action. The government added the Ciénaga Grande to the Montreux Record, a global list of at-risk wetlands. This action will provide Colombia with international technical and financial support needed to save the vital ecosystem. When I heard the good news, I immediately thought of the yellow butterflies of Macondo. And I thought of Colonel Aureliano Buendía, who stood in front of a firing squad remembering the day his grandfather took him to see ice. The imagery of this magical world, masterfully created by Gabriel García Márquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude, was born from the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta. In the early 1900’s, after the Thousand Days’ War, Colonel Nicolás Ricardo Márquez, grandfather of Colombia’s Nobel laureate, passed through the Ciénaga to settle near Aracataca. Later, accompanied by his grandfather, the author crossed the Ciénaga Grande various times to visit his parents in Barranquilla. In 1950, he crossed it again with his mother as they were going to sell his grandparents’ house. It was there, in the Ciénaga Grande, that Márquez found the spark that would light one of the classics of modern literature. So it’s no exaggeration to say that without the Ciénaga Grande, we wouldn’t have the yellow butterflies, or Macondo, or Colonel Aureliano Buendía, embedded so deeply into our cultural memory. It was there that the seed of magical realism was planted. That’s why even a cachaca like me—what those who live in the Caribbean call those of us from the country’s interior—who has lived for many years outside her country, identifies so deeply with the Ciénaga Grande. An international treasure For that and so many other reasons, we at AIDA decided to act in defense of the Ciénaga Grande, named a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. It’s home to Colombia’s largest coastal lagoon, which connects the fresh waters of the mighty Magdalena River with the salt water of the Caribbean Sea. The area is home to many species of mangrove, as well as tropical and riparian forests. It shelters raccoons, howler monkeys, manatees, red herons, ducks, and migrating birds. The Ciénaga Grande also hosts one of the largest artisanal fisheries in Colombia, which supports hundreds of families throughout the area. As a coastal wetland, it’s essential for climate regulation, absorption of pollution from the atmosphere, and flood control. But the Ciénaga Grande is gravely threatened. The spread of mass agriculture and livestock farming, along with large-scale infrastructure projects, has led to deforestation and water diversion. The animals and fish and people of the area are suffering as a result. That’s why I’ve joined the efforts to conserve the Ciénaga Grande, and why every person in Colombia, in the region, and in the world, should do the same. Hope for a healthier tomorrow The addition of the Ciénaga Grande to the Montreux Record fills me with hope. Although it’s shameful such an important ecosystem is in such bad shape, having the government recognize that fact and ask for help is an important advance. Thanks to all the caring activists who’ve joined the cause, my colleagues and I are inspired to do everything we can to ensure that the Ciénaga Grande recovers its vitality. We expect the government will do the same. After all, what would Colombia, Latin America, and the world be without the yellow butterflies of Macondo, and without the magic of nature to envelope us and gives us life?
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