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.
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By Flavia Amaral, AIDA attorney As construction of the world’s third-largest hydroelectric dam, Belo Monte, moves forward, social impacts and unrest continue. In the coming few months, close to 2,000 families are scheduled to be relocated from their homes in Altamira, on the Xingu River in Brazil, to newly built housing. Last year, another 2,000 families were resettled. The reconfiguring of the region continues to create social ills. The new settlements are far from downtown Altamira, and there is no public transportation. Many new houses are already showing structural problems, and there is little to no basic infrastructure such as health care centers, schools, and sewer treatment facilities. Also, as part of being relocated, a family must agree that they have no complaint or concern with the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant or the company responsible for the construction, a difficult ask for many who are giving up so much. For many indigenous communities, there is an explosion of illegal logging on their lands. Norte Energia,the consortium building Belo Monte, has not implemented required monitoring systems or constructed surveillance stations which would deter the logging. As a result, FUNAI, Brazil’s government agency that oversees Indian rights, reports that the situation is critical, and especially serious for the lands of the indigenous Arara people. Throughout the area, demonstrations continue by those who seek justice, recognition and compensation. Last month, hundreds of farmers held protests demanding land tenure, credit, and improvements to family farming. Two people died after being hit by a car that broke the blockade of protesters. This situation represents the unease, unrest, and violence that permeates the region. Clearly, the construction of Belo Monte has caused enormous impact in the Xingu River Basin – well before it’s operational phase. Four years ago, on the request of AIDA and partner organizations in Brazil, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights took an important step forward for the people of the region. It requested that the Brazilian government adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable damage to the rights of indigenous communities whose cultural integrity and way of life were at risk from the construction of Belo Monte. Clearly, after all these years, these threats remain: Brazil has not honored the precautionary measures. AIDA will continue working until we ensure that the environment and the rights of communities in Brazil’s Xingú River Basin are fully respected. We believe that the Commission still has time to act, and that there is potential for the Brazilian government to reframe its policies and practices to become a global model for equity and justice. Thank you so much for your ongoing support of our work for the people and the environment of the Amazon!
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By Gladys Martínez Significant strides were taken last week toward the conservation of loggerhead sea turtles. A new international resolution intends to strengthen protections for this endangered species in the Americas, and outlines the primary threats facing loggerheads, including mining, all of which should be regulated to avoid harm. The resolution was approved during the 7th Conference of Parties to the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (CIT), hosted last week in Mexico City. One of just seven species of sea turtle in the world, the loggerhead turtle is threatened by human activities such as unsustainable fishing, poorly planned development and extractive industries. AIDA was an actor and an observer in the conference, representing other organizations and individuals from civil society. My colleagues and I spoke with delegates and raised awareness of the harm that marine phosphate mining could cause to loggerheads, and to the ecosystem as a whole. We drew attention to the potential impacts of the Don Diego mining project in Bahia de Ulloa, Baja California Sur. The region’s first marine phosphate mine would, if executed, gravely impact populations of loggerhead turtles and other species that live in or migrate through Baja waters. I am pleased to report that I successfully advocated for the resolution to include mining on the list of threats to loggerheads. We also used our knowledge of international environmental law to help strengthen proposals within the resolution, and to make member States aware that immediate action is required for the conservation of the species. Details of the Loggerhead Resolution In the resolution, member States recognize that threats to the loggerhead turtle include development, coastal and deep-water fishing, marine debris, mining, pollution and climate change. The nations promise to work together to implement existing recovery plans for loggerhead populations, as well as to develop new plans in countries that still have not created them. They made the following commitments: Mexico and the United States will work together with Japan to develop a Trinational Recovery Plan for loggerhead turtles in the North Pacific. Chile, Ecuador, Peru and the United States will work with the Secretariat Pro Tempore of the Sea Turtle Convention and the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species to implement a Species Action Plan for loggerhead turtles in the South Pacific. Mexico and the United States will continue working with collaborating countries of the North Atlantic to share information about the situation and tendencies of the loggerhead turtle of the Northeast Atlantic, and to identify collaborative conservation actions. A Report on the Conference Overall, I am quite satisfied with the advances achieved at this conference. I consider it a privilege to participate, and an honor to effectively contribute our knowledge and experience to conventions such as this, where decisions are made at an international level, and then taken back and implemented in each participating country. Another result of the Conference is the increased protection of the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) of the Western Pacific. Member States approved a resolution in which they committed to: Deliver information annually to the Secretariat of the Convention on leatherback turtle bycatch taken by their fleets. Annually inform the Secretariat of measures that are being adopted to reduce bycatch. Identify, with the help of the Scientific Committee, critical areas and fisheries that require spatial and temporal management to reduce bycatch. Strengthen actions for the protection of leatherback turtles eggs. Establish and evaluate national programs for handling and releasing leatherback turtles taken as bycatch in fisheries. We trust that the States will transform these international commitments into effective actions for the conservation of sea turtles. At AIDA, we will remain vigilant to ensure these promises become reality.
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Bogota, Colombia. The undersigned environmental organizations condemn attacks on the environment made in the Colombian departments of Putumayo, Nariño, Arauca, Boyacá and Norte de Santander, which have been attributed to FARC-EP. According to media sources, attacks on oil infrastructure have caused environmental damage in the river basins of Tibú and Caunapí, among others, and in Bahia de Tumaco, affecting more than 84,000 people. These acts adversely impact local communities, the country and the environment on a global scale. Oil pollution in bodies of water seriously threatens the life and health of people, as well as the integrity of ecosystems and animal species. The undersigned organizations recall that international humanitarian law prohibits actors of armed conflict from engaging in environmental destruction unjustified by military needs, according to the principles of distinction and proportionality. Similarly, actors of armed conflict, when conducting hostilities, should refrain from undermining the human rights to water and a healthy environment. The organizations reaffirm that human rights and environmental law applicable in Colombia, as well as the government’s obligations in the field, are not suspended during periods of armed conflict. For all of these reasons, the undersigned environmental organizations call on FARC-EP to respect international humanitarian law and refrain from causing harm to the environment. They also reaffirm the necessity to exclude communities and ecosystems from armed conflict. Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA) Foro Nacional Ambiental Fundación Natura Klimaforum Latinoamérica Network (KLN) Red por la Justicia Ambiental en Colombia (RJAC)
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