Ecotourism instead of deforestation

The effort to promote peace and reconciliation in Colombia following 50 years of conflict is multi-faceted. Pivotal themes include justice for victims, sustainable development and combatting poverty. Another key focus is reincorporating the FARC ex-combatants into society.

On Thursday, Crown Prince Haakon visited a project that manages to combine several of these aspects.

The Crown Prince travelled to Mesetas to visit an effort that is reintegrating former FARC combatants through local projects. Photo: FN-sambandet / Eivind Oskarson.

Environments for Peace

The Environments for peace project combines reincorporation of ex-guerrilla soldiers with activities to promote sustainable development, fight deforestation and build resilient local communities.

Increased deforestation was an unintended consequence of the peace accord signed in 2016. Areas previously controlled by FARC guerrillas were taken over by companies that conducted illegal mining and coca cultivation for cocaine production, unlawful activities that also led to overexploitation of the forests.

Environments for peace provides an alternative. New, sustainable activities are built up locally in projects that include women, young people and former guerrilla soldiers. This is peace-building at a grassroots level, and Crown Prince Haakon lauded the project’s participants:

“This project and the work you are doing as Colombians – cooperating across former lines of conflict – are an inspiration to the whole world.”

“Conservation of nature is not typically a key issue in the wake of an armed conflict. But peace offers a great opportunity to utilise the resources of these forests in sustainable ways. Tourists can now experience Colombia in a new light and travel to places that once lay beyond reach.” 

Hidden paradises

Colombia is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. Over 9 000 plant and animal species are found only here and nowhere else. Some 300 different ecosystem types are represented and 15 % of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Colombian Amazon. 

Ecotourism

The peace accord ushered in completely new opportunities to benefit from this incredible biodiversity and the many areas of natural beauty. Instead of basing economic activity on resource extraction, conservation and sustainability have been given centre stage in an entirely new livelihood: ecotourism. Areas that were previously inaccessible due to the conflict are now opening up for tourism. The trend is clear: in 2016 some 96 000 people visited Colombia’s national parks; in 2017 that figure exceeded 1.6 million.

The Crown Prince inaugurated the Caño Rojo Trail – a new addition to the growing ecotourism programme. Photo: FN-sambandet / Eivind Oskarson.

Crown Prince Haakon opened a new addition to the expanding tourism industry during his visit to Mesetas: the Caño Rojo Trail. This path through the rainforest to a waterfall makes biodiversity and protection of the forest part of the livelihood of the Mesetas residents.

Ecotourism entails new ways of earning a living while helping to preserve fragile ecosystems. Photo: FN-sambandet / Eivind Oskarson.

Environments for peace is financed with Norwegian funding and is being implemented by the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, UNDP, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the FARC, in close cooperation with local residents.