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Colombian deforestation up 8% in 2020: ministry by AFP Staff Writers Bogota (AFP) July 7, 2021 Colombia lost more than 1,700 square kilometers of forest in 2020, an area the size of the capital Bogota and an eight percent increase on the previous year, the environment ministry said Wednesday. Some 64 percent of wildfires and deforestation affected the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest that is shared with eight other countries and territories. "That's where we have to make the most efforts," said Environment and Sustainable Development Minister Carlos Correa. Francisco Cruz, the deputy environment minister, said the 2020 increase is due to the influence of armed groups that encourage illegal logging by farmers. Leftist guerrillas, drug-traffickers and smugglers all operate in the Amazon. Deforestation has soared since a 2016 peace accord between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leftist rebels. The very next year it reached a record level of 2,170 square kilometers. President Ivan Duque, who came to power in 2018, has deployed the army to combat deforestation. According to the ministry, the main causes of deforestation are illegal land grabs for cattle ranching and the construction of clandestine roads. Illegal coca plantations, mining and logging are other main causes.
Fears for future of Mexico City's 'green lung' Mexico City (AFP) July 6, 2021 A major construction project in wetlands seen as one of the "green lungs" of smog-choked Mexico City has raised concerns for the future of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. A more than 1.7-kilometer (one mile) long reinforced concrete bridge is being built on a freshwater lake system that helps to regulate the temperature and prevent flooding in the city of nine million people. Hundreds of trees have been cut down in the Xochimilco reserve, which is home to endemic species including the critically ... read more
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