News

September 2nd, 2021

Deforastation in Colombia´s Amazon: Outlining the problem

Deforestation is the most visible face of environmental crime in Colombia’s Amazon.

From around 2016, the region’s forests registered accelerating encroachment and destruction. According to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales — IDEAM), in 2013, just 120,933 hectares of forest were destroyed when the agency began producing its annual deforestation monitoring report.

However, in 2017, a record high of 219,973 hectares was deforested in Colombia, up 23 percent from 2016.

Since then, deforestation rates have stabilized, dipping to 197,159 hectares cleared in 2018, and just under 158,894 hectares lost the following year. However, the country’s Amazon continues to be targeted by those profiting from illegal logging, land grabbing and illicit crop cultivation. Between 2012 and 2017, in just the Amazonian departments of Caquetá, Putumayo and Amazonas, 359,223 cubic meters of trees were destroyed.

*InSight Crime has joined forces with the Igarapé Institute – an independent think tank headquartered in Brazil, that focuses on emerging development, security and climate issues – to map out environmental crime in the Amazon Basin. Further instalments of the investigation will be published throughout September. Read all chapters here.

Four of the departments most consistently affected by deforestation in Colombia (Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare and Putumayo) are located in its Amazon, home to 66 percent of its forests. While in 2018, 138,176 hectares of forest were destroyed across the region, the following year, this fell to 98,256 hectares. Despite this decline, between July and September of 2020, 60 percent of total deforestation affecting Colombia was concentrated in its Amazon region.

Soaring deforestation in the country’s Amazonian departments from 2016 onward can be at least partly explained by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC) withdrawing from the region’s jungles, the result of a peace agreement signed with the government.

While this has not been the sole factor behind increased deforestation, it is significant. Before 2016, guerrilla fighters actively discouraged activities leading to the destruction of forests, the habitat in which they hid and which provided a strategic advantage to the guerrilla army.

August 5th, 2021

 

Colombian Anthony Zambrano wins silver medal in Tokyo 2020 in the 400 meters, the first in athletics for the history of Colombia

Today Colombian runner Anthony José Zambrano won a silver medal in the 400 meter dash final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Zambrano, with a time of 44.08, obtained the first men’s medal in athletics in the Olympic history of Colombia. Previously, the runner Ximena Restrepo (bronze in Barcelona 1992) and Caterine Ibargüen (silver in London 2012 and gold in Rio de Janeiro 2016) had done it.

With this medal of the Colombian athlete, born in the municipality of Maicao, in the department of La Guajira, in the extreme north of the country, Colombia reaches its fourth presentation in these Olympic Games.

Covid-19: Brazil experts issue warning as hospitals "close to collapse"

Health systems in most of Brazil's largest cities are close to collapse because of Covid-19 cases, its leading health institute warns.

More than 80% of intensive care unit beds are occupied in the capitals of 25 of Brazil's 27 states, Fiocruz said.

Experts warn that the highly contagious variant in Brazil may have knock-on effects in the region and beyond.

"Brazil is a threat to humanity," Fiocruz epidemiologist Jesem Orellana told the AFP news agency.

• What is the Brazil variant?
• Bolsonaro tells Brazilians to 'stop whining' as deaths spike

The country has recorded more than 270,000 deaths and 11.2 million cases since the pandemic began.

It has the second-highest number of deaths in the world after the US and the third-highest number of confirmed cases.

Despite this, President Jair Bolsonaro has consistently sought to downplay the threat posed by the virus. Earlier this week he told people to "stop whining".

He has also opposed quarantine measures taken at a regional level, arguing that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the virus itself.

What's the situation in Brazil?

On Wednesday, the country recorded 2,286 Covid deaths, a new daily record.

According to Fiocruz, 15 state capitals have intensive care units (ICUs) that are at more than 90% capacity including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Some reports say Brasilia has now reached full ICU capacity, while two cities - Porto Alegre and Campo Grande - have exceeded capacity.

In its report, the institute warned that figures point to the "overload and even collapse of health systems".

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Celebrating the English language at the UN

English Language Day at the UN is celebrated on 23 April, the date traditionally observed as both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare. The Day is the result of a 2010 initiative by the Department of Global Communications, establishing language days for each of the Organization's six official languages. The purpose of the UN's language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.

Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the Organization's six official languages.

The days are as follows:

• Arabic (18 December)
• Chinese (20 April)
• English (23 April)
• French (20 March)
• Russian (6 June)
• Spanish (23 April)

Language Days at the UN aim to entertain as well as inform, with the goal of increasing awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community. 

Multilingualism and the UN

An essential factor in harmonious communication among peoples, multilingualism is of particular importance to the United Nations. By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures effective and increased participation of all in the Organization’s work, as well as greater effectiveness, better outcomes and more involvement.

The balance among the six official languages has been an ongoing concern of the Secretary-General. Numerous activities have been undertaken, from 1946 to the present, to promote the use of the official languages to ensure that the United Nations, its goals and actions are understood by the widest possible public.