One of the goals of IRI-Colombia is to consolidate itself as a great national movement for the protection of tropical forests and the defense of the rights of indigenous peoples and the peasant and Afro-descendant communities that inhabit them. This, with the aim of spreading throughout the country the message of the urgency of the protection of the Amazonian tropical forests as the natural and most effective tool against climate change and the impact that this phenomenon produces on the territories, the country and the planet.
With the purpose of contributing to the fulfillment of this objective, on June 5, World Environment Day, IRI-Colombia launched the communications campaign “Friends of the Amazon”, formulated as an ‘umbrella’ that shelters and links different communicative actions, as is the case of the celebration of this relevant environmental date.
This year, the World Environment Day campaign included a series of activities at the local and national levels, thanks to which IRI-Colombia brought its message in favor of the Amazonian tropical forests to more than one and a half million people.
On the one hand, religious leaders – coordinators and members of local chapters – gave nine interviews on regional and national radio stations, in which they spoke about this important date, the work of IRI-Colombia in their municipality and the formation processes of the first half of 2024. They will also lead the activity ‘Let’s tell a story’, where children and young people from their communities will write stories about the tropical forests and biodiversity of their territory, which will be compiled in a digital booklet.
On the other hand, IRI-Colombia produced 31 graphic pieces (campaign image, pieces for networks, a poster and a banner, among others) and 15 audiovisuals on the importance of tropical forests, their relationship with biodiversity and the main threats that threaten them. These were disseminated on social networks from May 22 (International Day of Biodiversity) to June 17 (two phases of expectation and one of launch of the campaign were carried out). As a result, more than 2,200 people viewed the 56 posts and the videos were viewed more than 2,500 times.
In addition, IRI-Colombia prepared the pedagogical and advocacy meeting “Congressmen for the Life of the Amazon: Academic Forum on Deforestation and Climate Change”, with the aim of raising awareness among the senators of the Republic and representatives to the Chamber of Deputies about the need to create laws aimed at the protection of Amazonian tropical forests and the control of deforestation and biodiversity loss. However, it was necessary to postpone the event due to the days of water rationing in the Colombian capital that led to the closure of the national capitol on the date on which the meeting was scheduled.
