Deforestation in Colombia

By Caterinne Johana Gutierrez Pardo

"A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of the earth, they purify the air and give pure strength to our people" (Franklin D. Roosavelt).

-Half of the Colombian territory is covered by trees, and deforestation is due to the expansion of the agricultural frontier, especially for extensive cattle ranching, planting of illicit crops, illegal logging, mining and pressure for population growth, but here we ask ourselves what is it affecting the environment? What about animals? What could we do about it? Now I invite you to continue reading this short essay.

-Let's start with the most worrying question of all, how does it affect the environment? Unfortunately, as human needs grow, so does deforestation. With the development of urbanization, more and more land is needed, but at what cost? And this is where our second question comes into play, what about animals?.

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. One of the biggest impacts is the loss of habitat for millions of species. In the last 20 years a large number of hectares has been lost, that is, 56.6% of the national territory, an area the size of Costa Rica has been lost. We have a clear example of illegal logging, in the Magdalena basin the river annually drags 160 tons of garbage per square kilometer. This makes it the most deforested basin in South America and the tenth in the world.

The cause of deforestation in Colombia is illegal logging. Logging and illegal timber trafficking are a growing problem that threatens the subsistence of several species, particularly those with a high commercial value in national and international markets.

-To finish with our last question, what can we do? If you ask me, I think we should demand laws to have stable and diverse forests and provide a strategic framework to balance land uses at the national, sub-national and territorial scales, however; effective regulation is necessary for this change. Additionally, forest fires are more common and more dangerous, but many of the fires are intentional and the vast majority are caused by man, carelessness or negligence.

Speaking personally, I believe that we must start with the basics, at home recycling, reusing, in the street we should not throw garbage on the streets. Do not forget that: The change begins with us. I guess that everything must be for autonomy, in order to improve our world and not lose what we have left.