Thanks to the advocacy work of the Inter-Religious Initiative for Tropical Forests in Colombia, the Governor’s Office of Guaviare and the Mayors’ Offices of San José del Guaviare, El Retorno, Calamar and Miraflores have agreed to include forest protection proposals in the environmental component of the Development Plans, which will be valid for four years -corresponding to the government’s term of office-. The main objective of these measures is to ensure the creation and implementation of programs to control deforestation, biodiversity loss and, in general, the protection of the Amazon. In addition, it has been agreed to integrate two religious leaders, prominent members of the Initiative, into the Territorial Planning Councils.
The proposals put forward by IRI-Colombia have been carefully designed taking into account the government plans of each municipality and the department as a whole. These initiatives are based on three basic principles that guide their formulation and execution:
- Explicitly include in the planning document the problem of deforestation and the urgency of halting its advance.
- Recognize the transformative power of community involvement in the conservation of the Amazon rainforest.
- Identify potential sources of resources to help conserve and restore the Amazon ecosystem.
This major achievement followed a series of bilateral meetings between IRI-Colombia and religious leaders from local chapters, and municipal mayors and members of the departmental government. These meetings are part of the second phase of the advocacy campaign that began last year, which aims to influence the formulation of municipal and departmental development plans. As a result of the first phase, the then candidates signed the programmatic agreement “A New Opportunity of Hope for the Amazon”, in which they committed to work for the protection of the Amazon once elected.
Schedule of meetings:
– February 15, in San José del Guaviare: meeting with the team of the Departmental Planning Secretariat, the Departmental Secretariat of Agricultural Development and Environment, and the National Planning Department.
– February 16, in San José del Guaviare: meeting with the team of the Municipal Planning Secretariat of San José del Guaviare.
– February 17, in La Libertad: meeting with the municipal mayor of El Retorno, Johnny Casanova.
– February 17, in Calamar: meeting with the municipal mayor of Calamar, Farid Camilo Castaño.
– February 18, in San José del Guaviare: meeting with the municipal mayor of Miraflores, Edwin Iovanny Díaz.
