Project
Preserving the legacy of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Heart of the World
Rising abruptly from Colombia’s Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta reaches 5,775 meters (18,946 ft.) at its highest points, the peaks of Bolívar and Colón. It is the highest coastal mountain system in the world, a place where indigenous knowledge and nature’s own wisdom converge.
The sheer changes in elevation create a wide variety of ecosystems within a small area, where the diversity of plant and animal life creates a unique exuberant region. The melting snows of the highest peaks form rivers and lakes, whose freshwater flows down steep slopes to the tropical sea at the base of the mountains.
The indigenous Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa, and Kankuamo people protect and care for this natural treasure with an authority they have inherited from their ancestors. According to their worldview the land is sacred and shared in divine communion between humans, animals, plants, rivers, mountains, and the spirts of their ancestors.
Despite this ancestral inheritance, development projects proposed for the region have failed to take the opinions of these indigenous groups into consideration. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is currently threatened by 251 mineral concessions, hydroelectric projects, agriculture, urban sprawl, and infrastructure projects.
Many of these concessions were granted without the prior consultation of the indigenous communities, which represents a persistent and systematic violation of their rights.
Mining, which implies the contamination and erosion of watersheds, threatens the health of more than 30 rivers that flow out of the Sierra; these are the water sources of the departments of Magdalena, César, and La Guajira.
These threats have brought this natural paradise to the brink of no return. With it, would go the traditional lives of its indigenous inhabitants, who are dependent on the health of their land and the sacred sites it contains.
The Sierra hosts the archaeological site of la Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City, known as Teyuna, the cradle of Tayrona civilization. According to tradition, it is the source from which all nature was born—the living heart of the world.
The four guardian cultures of the Sierra are uninterested in allowing this natural and cultural legacy to disappear.
Related projects
Latest News
The results of the United States election have shocked the world. Many of us feel hurt, angry and, above all, worried. For those of us who work to protect our planet and our shared environment a Trump presidency is deeply troubling. The president-elect has called climate change a hoax and promised to back out of the Paris Agreement, to dismantle President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, and to rebuild the coal industry. In the challenging years ahead, the movement to protect Earth will be more important than ever. We must all be a part of it. Today, more than ever, we reiterate our commitment to justice—for the environment and for all those whose lives depend so intimately on it. Now is the time to act. The world needs leadership, ours and yours. Each one of us at AIDA is committed to making our planet a better place to live. We are dedicated to defending it from destructive climate policies, and to uplifting its most vulnerable populations. We know what’s coming will be difficult. That’s why your support is so important. Coming together now is imperative. We have a historic responsibility to demonstrate leadership, to find peaceful solutions, and to ensure a brighter future for present and future generations. We must react with unity, engage, and collaborate. It’s time to build hope and lay the path to a peaceful, prosperous, respectful, and tolerant future. With our valued supporters and partners, AIDA will keep working to protect the Earth, its defenders, their culture, and their way of life.
Read more
Latest News
The Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force today. Nations must now implement the commitments that made this global consensus possible, and work to make them even more ambitious. On October 5, the nations of the European Union ratified the Paris Agreement, the binding global treaty on climate change adopted in a United Nations conference last December. With their signatures, the treaty met the requirements needed to enter into force: it was ratified by at least 55 countries, which account for 55 percent or more of global greenhouse gas emissions. Many Latin American nations contributed to this important political achievement by ratifying the agreement early, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Peru. In late September, China and the United States, the world’s largest emitters, also said yes to the new climate accord. Now all the nations that have ratified the Paris Agreement must begin to implement the national contributions they laid out last year, including, among other things, reducing emissions, financing climate actions, and taking measures for adaptation and mitigation. “These contributions are legally binding and can only be improved upon by increasing ambitions,” explained Andrea Rodriguez, AIDA attorney. “Nations cannot deny or go back on their word.” For the commitments to become a reality, each country must promote actions that meet international standards and create strong institutions to implement them. Strong national and international support systems will enable governments to succeed at the adaptation and mitigation efforts that lay ahead. The world’s most vulnerable nations depend on special climate financing to cope with the impacts of a changing climate. The enactment of the Paris Agreement may result in a stronger, more predictable and transparent international financial framework. Sufficient funding and proper financial management are key to making national commitments not only concrete but ever more ambitious. “The entry into force of the Paris Agreement is an important global milestone. We can finally begin the urgent transformation of our economy and society towards a truly sustainable future. The irrefutable evidence of the impacts of climate change requires us to exercise historical responsibility to act quickly and get results,” said Astrid Puentes, AIDA co-director. “Latin America must show global leadership by implementing appropriate solutions and staying away from outdated strategies that increase the vulnerability of our countries and negatively impact people and communities.”
Read more
Latest News
Heavily promoted by the United States, the exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons through fracking has sought to expand into nations throughout the Americas. It has done so despite the fact that none of those governments have comprehensive knowledge of its risks, the serious and irreversible damage it does to human and environmental health, or how to prevent and mitigate those risks. That’s why the Latin American Alliance On Fracking (ALFF) published this report—to contribute to the debate, and spread awareness of the impacts of this controversial technique. Throughout these pages we address the situation of fracking in six countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Each case analyzes: the context of energy development in the country; public policies to promote and regulate fracking; the social, environmental and economic impacts of fracking on people, their human rights, and their land; and the advocacy, mobilization and resistance strategies deployed in each country. The report concludes with a summary of conclusions and recommendations in light of the analysis of and reflection on the different cases studied. As part of ALFF, it is our goal to feed the discussion of an urgent change to the energy model of our region, to arrive at one that is sustainable and socially just. We believe that the forms of production, distribution and consumption of energy promote in our region reflect the unjust and deeply unequal system of social relations in the region. This is the social, political and economic reality that the promotion of fracking reinforces. This is what we want to change. Download the report (in Spanish)
Read more