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In the environmental sector, we can breathe better air again. Deforestation, one of the issues that had been critical since 2016, when it reached a peak after the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Government and the former FARC guerrilla, now gives good news: it decreased 29% in 2022 compared to with what was registered in 2021. In other words, according to the most recent data provided by the Ministry of the Environment, in one year only 123,517 hectares (ha) of forest were erased at the national level, an advance if one takes into account that in 2019 they felled 158,894 ha; in 2020, 171,685 ha, and in 2021, 174,103 ha.
It was during the first quarter of 2022 when most deforestation occurred in Colombia, accumulating 63% of deforestation, followed by 9% during the second quarter, 11% in the third quarter, and a 17% increase in the fourth semester. “The most critical periods in the Amazon, which has a high representativeness in the national figure, are from October to December and from January to March, since it is the driest season,” explained Environment Minister Susana Muhamed, warning, So, that the greatest work against deforestation actually took place during the last quarter, when deforestation was contained.
Another point that explains why the deforestation figure has dropped has to do with what is happening with the National Natural Parks, since forest felling there has been reduced by 12%. Among the Parks where there was improvement are Paramillo, Chibiriquete, Tinigua, Catatumbo, Macarena and La Playa.
Where did deforestation go up and down?
In the main deforestation nuclei, Muhamad also explained, 52% of deforestation occurred, concentrated in the Andean region and in the Amazon arc. Specifically, these are critical points in “Mapiripán, Guaviare, the Sabanas del Yarí, Putumayo and the south of Meta.” And although the national trend was downward, in departments such as Antioquia deforestation increased by 5% and in Chocó by 23% compared to 2021.
There, as has been noted on different occasions, the greatest pressures that erase the forests are illicit crops, illegal logging, mining, extensive cattle ranching and, in some cases, the opening of roads that open up the forests.
On the other hand are the departments where deforestation was reduced the most, including Norte de Santander, with 40%; Vichada (26%); Meta (34%) in Guaviare (37%); Caquetá (50%) and Putumayo (15%). “In Norte de Santander it is a phenomenon that we must study because we still do not know exactly what this improvement is due to,” said the minister.
If all the figures for the Amazon region are added, in addition, the reduction was a 36% reduction in the departments of Amazonas, Guaviare, Guainía and Vaupés; and part of the departments of Putumayo, Caquetá, Nariño, Cauca, Meta and Vichada.
The trend of the first quarter of 2023 is going well
Although these are preliminary data – that is, statistical samples that do not yet have the complete compilation – everything also indicates that, so far this year, deforestation has improved. “This first quarter of 2023 had a reduction of 76% compared to the first quarter of 2022,” said Muhamad. “Which is good news.” The challenge, however, will come in the last semester of the year, since in addition to the trend that it is one of the times with the most deforestation in the Amazon, it is added that in Colombia the El Niño phenomenon will hit, which, for example, makes the vegetation more prone to fires. “Although we started the year with a good trend in the Amazon Arc, the key will be to sustain the result until 2024,” concluded the minister.
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