Conservation and Ethnic Community Land Rights in Colombia

Under the Santos administration, the Colombian government has vastly expanded protected areas, creating new national parks and indigenous and Afro-Colombian reserves in broad swathes of the Amazon and other parts of the country. In July, the government expanded two indigenous reserves in Caquetá connecting protected areas to establish one of the largest conservation corridors in the Amazon with 10 million hectares of protected land. Under the Paris Climate Agreement Colombia pledged to achieve zero net deforestation in the Amazon by 2020. However, national parks and indigenous and Afro Colombian lands continue to be threatened by illegal occupation, coca cultivation and illegal gold mining. In addition, many environmentally sensitive areas lack protected status, and deforestation has increased due mainly to cattle ranching and agricultural expansion.

The Inter-American Dialogue, in partnership with the Andes Amazon Fund, is pleased to host a panel discussion on conservation and indigenous and Afro-Colombian land rights featuring Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Luis Gilberto Murillo.

Follow this event on Twitter at #DialogueClimate and @The_Dialogue.

Lunch will be served during this event.

Speakers:

• Luis Gilberto Murillo, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia (@LuisGMurillo)
• Mark Plotkin, President, Amazon Conservation Team (@DocMarkPlotkin)
• Meg Symington, Senior Director, Amazon, World Wildlife Fund (@WWF)
• Fernando Calado, Programmes Director, Colombia, International Organization for Migration (@caladofer17)

Moderator:

• Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue (@MichaelShifter)

Following the panel discussion, we will hold a brief signing ceremony formalizing the Alliance for Ethnic Communities for Sustainable Development and Environmental Conservation between the Ministry of Environment, Amazon Conservation Team and International Organization for Migration.

In partnership with