Water and the protection of forests as a crucial strategy for their defense are the protagonists of the second training cycle of 2025, of IRI-Colombia. On September 25, it was the turn of the leaders of the local chapters in Puerto Rico, Bajo Riecito and La Soledad, in Caquetá, who participated in this new pedagogical day.
Fifty religious, community and indigenous leaders attended this event, which was also attended by representatives of the local government and a group of students from the Sacred Hearts Educational Institution.
“This process of formation for religious leaders, local communities and young people – whose presence today was especially significant – strengthens those who, from their different roles, are called to continue the task of protecting the Amazon rainforest. Their voice and commitment are essential for the life and future of the region,” said the national coordinator of IRI-Colombia, Blanca Lucía Echeverry, who presented the work strategies and progress of the Initiative in the Colombian Amazon.
With the help of three experts, IRI leaders were able to reflect on water from three thematic axes: theology and spirituality, physics and ecology, and political advocacy.
“Water is a source of life and a divine manifestation. Being caretakers of what we still have requires a true union: this change does not begin only from governments, but from all of us who, from faith, come together to protect the Amazon forest,” said the executive secretary of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, Juan Felipe Martínez, who led the workshop “Water, God’s precious gift,” in which he made a theological reflection on this important natural resource.
The pedagogical meeting continued with the intervention of Diego Fernando Campos, professor at the District University, who explained in detail the dynamics that make the Amazonian “flying rivers” possible.
In addition, religious leaders and other members of IRI’s local chapters in Puerto Rico acquired the basic conceptual tools to devise advocacy strategies through participation in the formulation and follow-up of territorial development plans and communication strategies.
In the workshop “Community and advocacy action for the care of water”, political scientist José Adolfo Castañeda invited participants to understand political advocacy as a tool for transformation.
Puerto Rico is one of the municipalities in Caqueta most affected by deforestation. Providing religious leaders and other members of IRI chapters with scientific knowledge, practical tools and spiritual foundations is strategic to building resilience in the territory, said Pastor John Jairo Escobar, coordinator of the three local IRI chapters in the area.
“The loss of forest means erosion, the disappearance of fauna and oxygen, and the threat of being left with empty landscapes, turned into deserts. The Amazon is a water pump that sustains the climate and the well-being of millions of people”, Diego Fernando Campos.
