40 religious leaders from Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare and Putumayo, participated in the first day of scientific immersion, carried out by IRI-Colombia with the purpose of strengthening the dialogue between scientific and spiritual knowledge, as a strategy to promote the protection of the Amazon rainforest.
For two days, on June 10 and 11, pastors, priests, missionary sisters, and members of other spiritual communities visited the Humboldt Institute, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, and the Amazon Institute for Scientific Research, Sinchi, key scientific institutions for the country’s environmental protection and prevention.
“The Amazon is defended from the territories, but also from knowledge. This visit reminds us that faith and science are not opposite paths, but allies to protect life,” said Marcela Lozano, manager of Social Appropriation of Knowledge, of the Humboldt Institute.
At the institution, dedicated to the study of biodiversity and its relationship with human well-being, religious leaders learned about Colombian biological diversity and the challenges for its conservation, and reflected on the role of environmental education, participatory science and community work as a tool for ecosystem restoration.
In addition, the religious leaders understood that tools such as forest monitoring, accompanied by scientific knowledge and articulated work with communities, are the basis for an active defense of the Amazonian territory.
At the UNGRD facilities, religious leaders reflected on the challenges of disaster risk management in a country highly vulnerable to climate change. Concepts such as threat, exposure and vulnerability were addressed, and the importance of a culture of prevention with a community approach was discussed. Later, they toured the National Crisis Room – a strategic center for decision-making in emergencies – and visited the MAGMA interactive museum, where they lived an educational experience on natural phenomena, risk scenarios and coordinated response actions. “Bringing spirituality closer to risk management scenarios can be a powerful channel to strengthen early warning systems in territories affected by deforestation and climate change,” said Pastor Germán Colmenares, coordinator of the local chapters in Puerto Leguizamo.
The religious leaders also visited the MAGMA museum, of the UNGRD.
On the other hand, the visit to the SINCHI Institute allowed them to understand in depth the role of scientific research in Amazonian conservation. The delegation visited the Amazonian Herbarium, the Laboratory for the Use and Exploitation of Biodiversity, the Laboratory for Biotechnology and Genetic Resources and the Bioprospecting Laboratories, where sustainable products are developed from native non-timber species. This vision strengthens the idea of the forest as a territory of knowledge and not of extraction. Key issues such as satellite monitoring of deforestation, ecological connectivity and the relationship between biodiversity, health and culture were also addressed.
During this day of scientific immersion, the religious leaders reaffirmed their strategic contribution as actors of transformation in their territories: their voice mobilizes, connects and guides. They also paved the way for new alliances between scientific institutions and local religious communities to develop processes of training, restoration, environmental monitoring, and capacity building in defense of the Amazon forest.
