AS RAIN lashes down on San Jos茅 del Guaviare, of the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development breathes a sigh of relief. 鈥淭hank God,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are already three fires burning today. Hopefully this does the trick.鈥�
Guaviare province is on the boundary between Colombia鈥檚 plains and the Amazon rainforest. But over the past century, the forest has been pushed back by a series of economic booms. From rubber to marijuana and coca, new opportunities have eaten into the Colombian Amazon, with fires clearing the way each time. Now, the forest faces a new threat: peace.
In late 2016, the Colombian government with Marxist guerrillas called the聽 (FARC). It ended a 52-year conflict that left over 200,000 dead and 7 million displaced. It could save many lives and push the nation into a new era of prosperity.
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But so far it hasn鈥檛 been good news for Colombia鈥檚 portion of the Amazon rainforest.
A precious forest
The Amazon is home to , as well as many unique species. Colombia鈥檚 share spans a third of the country.聽It hosts many of the 849 Colombian species identified by the IUCN Red List as at risk, such as pink river dolphins, jaguars, giant otters and spider monkeys.
In Guaviare and neighbouring Meta, . There were 403 fires in Colombia from the end of 2017 until March 2018. Environment minister Luis Murillo called it a 鈥減ublic calamity鈥�.
Farmers have long used controlled burns to fertilise land in the dry season. But the scale of the latest fires is new.
Local experts say the main cause is the power vacuum left by FARC鈥檚 demobilisation. FARC once held huge areas of the forest, but now there are many competing groups. Some are ex-FARC members who refused to disarm. Others are paramilitary groups that have switched from protecting landowners from the guerrillas to drug trafficking and illegal mining.
In Guaviare, FARC reportedly enforced strict green rules. They fined anyone clearing more than 鈥�3 to 10 hectares鈥� of forest, said a source at a local science institute, who asked not to be named for their safety. Trafficking animals was also controlled. But the source told me that since the peace deal, the FARC members had to聽loosen their grip, becoming 鈥渋solated鈥� and 鈥渟cared they would be handed in to authorities鈥�.
鈥淭he FARC enforced limits on the land,鈥� says Rojas Moncada. 鈥淲ith the paramilitaries, you can have whatever you can afford.鈥�
No more rules
Hence when FARC demobilised in 2016, annual deforestation rose 44 per cent to 179,000 hectares. Similar losses are expected for 2017 and 2018. Most was lost in areas previously held by FARC.
Local farmers have seized the chance to burn or cut trees. They hope to become landowners when land rights are later formalised. When I visited, I saw patches that had been burned to a crisp, without even salvaging the wood.
Worse, say observers, are 鈥渃riminal bands鈥� descending on Guaviare from across Colombia. They are grabbing hundreds or thousands of hectares at a time.
Cattle and palm oil are both big business, but illegal activities like coca cultivation, illegal mining and logging pay more. The most 鈥減erverse鈥� is speculative clearing, says Rojas Moncada, in the hope the land will be granted under the peace deal.
Save the rainforest
The government is now under pressure to stop deforestation. In April, , like a person. It聽told the government to do more to save it. Also in April, President Juan Manuel Santos and granted Amazonian tribes political autonomy.
But there are three challenges, says at the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. The first is to impose the rule of law in the forest. But it is hard to police such a vast, largely uninhabited area.
He also wants to push 鈥渞ural dwellers to produce sustainably鈥� and convince city dwellers that trashing the forest is 鈥渦nethical鈥�.
To slow deforestation, the government should help farmers more, says Flaviano Mahecha of farmers group . 鈥淲e聽are trying to encourage sustainable farming, but illegal activities are just far more profitable,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e get little help from the state, many earn less than minimum wage, and there is nothing else to do.鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭he dark side of Colombia鈥檚 peace鈥�
