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Protected Areas had their first congress and as well as meeting to have some interesting and pertinent environmental discussions, a new national park was declared: the Yaigoyé Apaporis National Park, in homage to Julio Carrizosa, Margarita Marino and Alegría Fonseca. |
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November 7th 2009-11:59pm. El Espectador
The naming of Yaigoyé Apaporis National Park, with more than a million hectares of pure Amazon, is a huge achievement for the Indigenous government and the Gaya Foundation who know all the corners of the region and know its importance for nature and man. This was the territory of the great naturalist and botanist Richard Evans Schultes. The decision to bring forward this project by the National Parks and especially the efforts of its director Julia Miranda have to be recognized given the disastrous environmental politics of Uribe.
The teacher Julio Carrizosa, writer of the environmental code, the first manager of Inderena (the former government body in charge of national parks) and the creator of many of Colombia´s national parks has said that for the government, “the environment is considered to be a pool of natural resources, those most favoured being the ones that bring economic benefit and the most powerful actors being the business people; the concept of “ecosystem” has disappeared and not just the instruments of “command and control” have lost importance but also the opinions and pressure from academics, indigenous communities and environmental and grass roots organizations.” The former ministers Manuel Rodríguez and Juan Mayr have also raised alarm bells: Uribe´s government has brought to a halt the defence of the environment as public patrimony. Margarita Marino, known and loved for her tireless work fronting the Colegio Verde in Villa de Leyva, and Alegría Fonseca, with their debates in Congress, share this criticism. They, together with Julio Carrizosa, gave their first big battle for the Tayrona National Park, which the “great men of Santa Marta” – the same ones that are embroiled in Agro Ingreso Seguro- want to convert into their own playground. It has been a hard fight and one that has cost lives.
Today, Tayrona has been invaded once again: estate agencies, large hotel groups and tourist agencies have not only refused to renounce the appropriation of the park, they are extending their appetites to all our Caribbean beaches. In time they would like to convert the entire coast into a playground for foreign pensioners, like they have done in Cartagena. The Amazon will not be an exception: the Bessudos and their partners are after the Macarena, Tuparro, and the islets of Quitasueño, Serranilla and Bolívar as privileged places for ecotourism, and without doubt the new Apaporis Park will become a paradise for the no less corrupt ethnic-tourism projects. Although the land will not pass into private hands, the environmental services will be administered by private organizations. That doesn´t mean that the rich don´t have the right to enjoy the beaches and forests, simply that his right shouldn´t impede all Colombians from having the same guarantees and protection from the state. The privatization of the national parks will become a reality via concessions if the green movement does not wake up and defend what they have achieved for the public good in the last half century. Julio Carrizosa adverts: “the integral and complex vision of our territory as a good place to live and enjoy oneself disappears before the obsession to promote big business.”
Alfredo Molano Bravo
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November 7th 2009-11:59pm. El Espectador
The naming of Yaigoyé Apaporis National Park, with more than a million hectares of pure Amazon, is a huge achievement for the Indigenous government and the Gaya Foundation who know all the corners of the region and know its importance for nature and man. This was the territory of the great naturalist and botanist Richard Evans Schultes. The decision to bring forward this project by the National Parks and especially the efforts of its director Julia Miranda have to be recognized given the disastrous environmental politics of Uribe.
The teacher Julio Carrizosa, writer of the environmental code, the first manager of Inderena (the former government body in charge of national parks) and the creator of many of Colombia´s national parks has said that for the government, “the environment is considered to be a pool of natural resources, those most favoured being the ones that bring economic benefit and the most powerful actors being the business people; the concept of “ecosystem” has disappeared and not just the instruments of “command and control” have lost importance but also the opinions and pressure from academics, indigenous communities and environmental and grass roots organizations.” The former ministers Manuel Rodríguez and Juan Mayr have also raised alarm bells: Uribe´s government has brought to a halt the defence of the environment as public patrimony. Margarita Marino, known and loved for her tireless work fronting the Colegio Verde in Villa de Leyva, and Alegría Fonseca, with their debates in Congress, share this criticism. They, together with Julio Carrizosa, gave their first big battle for the Tayrona National Park, which the “great men of Santa Marta” – the same ones that are embroiled in Agro Ingreso Seguro- want to convert into their own playground. It has been a hard fight and one that has cost lives.
Today, Tayrona has been invaded once again: estate agencies, large hotel groups and tourist agencies have not only refused to renounce the appropriation of the park, they are extending their appetites to all our Caribbean beaches. In time they would like to convert the entire coast into a playground for foreign pensioners, like they have done in Cartagena. The Amazon will not be an exception: the Bessudos and their partners are after the Macarena, Tuparro, and the islets of Quitasueño, Serranilla and Bolívar as privileged places for ecotourism, and without doubt the new Apaporis Park will become a paradise for the no less corrupt ethnic-tourism projects. Although the land will not pass into private hands, the environmental services will be administered by private organizations. That doesn´t mean that the rich don´t have the right to enjoy the beaches and forests, simply that his right shouldn´t impede all Colombians from having the same guarantees and protection from the state. The privatization of the national parks will become a reality via concessions if the green movement does not wake up and defend what they have achieved for the public good in the last half century. Julio Carrizosa adverts: “the integral and complex vision of our territory as a good place to live and enjoy oneself disappears before the obsession to promote big business.”
Alfredo Molano Bravo
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