Looking at the number of deforested acres in Colombia, the outgoing environment minister says 2024 will be one of the least damaging years in recent decades.
Considering the level of paramilitary presence in rural Colombia over the past 50 years, it’s an incredible achievement to have seen it fall so low in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.
Colombia has had problems with deforestation for years owing to the occupation of rural highland forest areas by the revolutionary Marxist guerilla force FARC, and a similar group called the ELN, with which Colombia remains in conflict.
Deforestation is in part driven, it’s believed, by dissident rebels from these and other groups, including drug traffickers, including through building roads, camps, ranching animals, and perhaps supplying the illegal hardwood trade.
In 2023, deforestation rates fell by more than one-third, to 305 square miles, and though there has been a slight uptick since then, Minister Susana Muhamed told reporters that 2024 will be the third-lowest in the 21st century, showing the state can maintain the progress it’s already made.
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Deforestation is not measured by the number of trees felled by men with chainsaws, but also includes weather events and disasters such as landslides or fires. 2024 was originally predicted to see a sharp rise in forest loss amid a strong El Nino weather phenomenon that brought about dryer and hotter conditions, droughts, and fires throughout Colombia by April.
Deforestation had increased 40% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period the prior year, but these trends must have petered out significantly over the following months.
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