WWF Colombia Colombia. February-April 2010 No. 1010 Malaga Bay: Land of promise or protection Yaigojé Apaporis- One million hectares protected in the Colombian Amazon A vote to save Colombian forests © Luca ZANETTI e d i t o r i a l WWF's symbolic protest outside the COP15, Co- penhagen, Denmark. © WWF-Belgium / WEILER Philippe he first year of the second decade of the 21st century started with the planet still waiting for humanity to pay its debt – to meet its obligations T and reduce the impact of climate change for future generations. An outstanding As each day passes, the interest on this debt racks up and it becomes ever more impossible to pay. Not only does the debt seem unmanageable, but there’s little political will to change the way the world economy has operated debt over the past 50 years. The world leaders conscious of the problems (some more than others) met at the end of 2009 to reach a bind- ing agreement in the negotiations over climate change in Copenhagen. While for some it was frustrating, others Ximena Barrera saw it as a start of an important process in changing global Director for Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, WWF Colombia habits to reduce greenhouse gases so temperatures don’t [email protected] rise by more than 2 degrees Celsius. It’s true that the “Copenhagen agreement” didn’t match expectations of a deal that would be fair, ambi- 4 Malaga Bay: 10 Yaigojé Apaporis- One 13 Sharing the experiences of sustainable Land of promise or million hectares protected farming along the Andes protection in the Colombian Amazon Thirty-seven small farmers and leaders from the Yaigojé Apaporis is Colombia’s Cordillera Real Oriental range passed through More than 20 years ago, the 55th national park. It is also the the Coffee Region for one week to learn about whales were the hosts of Malaga country’s second-largest park. local experiences in conservation, sustainable c o n t e n t Bay. In 2020 it’s possible that they will cease to be. agricultural production and community leadership. 2 tions and binding, exactly the type of accord demand- ed by millions of people around the world. But it’s undeniable that now, more than ever, the issue of climate change is forefront on people’s minds given that it touches us all. A number of different issues discussed at Copen- hagen have a direct bearing on Latin America. In par- ticular, the issue of adapta- tion; the reduction of Emis- The fact sions by Deforestation and that the COP Degradation (REDD) and 16 will be the need for economies to in Mexico lower their carbon outputs represents a through the use of efficient © Carlos Drews / WWF-Canon great chance and renewable energies. The future is uncertain; we know tional negotiations over climate Coastal road erosion for WWF in San Andres Island, that the period of negotiation has change, but the COP 16 is a perfect Colombia. Beach and other erosion may be due to been extended, but it must be re- meeting point to deepen the ongoing sea-level rise, a con- countries dialogue between civil society and sequence of climate membered that the Kyoto Protocol change. across the will expire in 2012, making another governments, and so encourage more region. agreement all the more urgent. WWF concrete proposals. recognizes that having 192 world Not all is lost, there is now a so- leaders meet in the Copenhagen cial awareness with which to build conference and not come to an im- a fairer model of development and portant agreement is a waste of a so start fulfilling our obligations to terrific opportunity. the planet. However, the fact that the COP What is undeniable is that con- 16 will be in Mexico represents a cern for the welfare of the planet great chance for WWF and other will be more common in the years countries across the region. It’s true to come than it has been for the past that Latin America is only beginning 50 years. to have a presence in the interna- 18 A vote to save Colombian forests 22 Venezuela and Colombia, ten years of 25 News WWF estimates that between 16% and 19% sharing information and resources to Pág. 25 a 27 (or between 26.5 million square meters save the Orinoco and 31 million square meters) of the wood The Orinoco Basin is vital for the economic and social imported by the European Union comes from development of Colombia and Venezuela, serving as a 28 Publications illegal logging. source of water for the large cities of Bogota, Caracas Pág. 28 y 29 and Tachira. 3 wenty years ago, the inhab- itants of Malaga Bay didn’t have to sail too far out to T easily see the snorts from the whales. The song of these animals wasn’t foreign to their ears; a long series of sounds that, experts say, if they could be translated would flow as easily as a Colombian folk song. More than 20 The old folks say that 20 years years ago, ago, these massive beasts swam so the whales close to the shore that from the beach Yubarta © Fundación were the hosts you could see them raise their tails of Malaga above the water like some ancestral wave. Since time immemorial, the Bay. In 2020 whales have chosen this corner of Malaga Bay: it’s possible the Colombian Pacific coast as a that they will sanctuary to preserve their species. cease to be. The animals arrive every July and for Land of promise Conditions four months these waters turn in to have put this a carnival of songs, jumps, fluttering or protection sanctuary of fins and snorts, a welcome to life for the newly born whales. for whales About two decades ago, say the Karla Miliani in the aim of locals, there was no naval base and Media Consultant / WWF Colombia a hurricane the rumor that the country was go- [email protected] of business ing to open up to the world economy interests and using these waters was just that – a politics that rumor. But with the construction of Rumors of Progress could lead to a military complex and the increase Since the last century, Malaga in the traffic of boats moving along Bay has been attractive not only irreversible the Colombian coast, the ancestral for its natural riches, but also for its environmental wave of the whales is ever more dis- strategic position on the Colombian damage. tant. And those rumors of progress Pacific. This region, in the province grow ever more possible. of Valle del Cauca, traditionally has Twenty years ago, the waters of been presented as the country’s most Malaga Bay belonged to the whales. important access to the trade routes In 2020, it’s possible they’ll no lon- of the world, an open door to the ger be welcome here. Then, the only markets of the East and a corridor snort to be heard will be from the linking with neighboring countries. boats that come from other lands, With these arguments, the govern- and as has been said, will bring prog- ment declared the Malaga Bay an ress to the country. area of public interest. 4 1980s experts have warned that the port would one day run out of space. To the dismay of many, the study carried out by Hidroestudios was not encouraging: the study decided that Malaga was not a good option for a possible port given the high seismic activity, how vulnerable the surrounding environment was and the high costs construction would require. Since then and for more than a decade, government studies regard- ing a new port always favored other alternatives over Malaga Bay. In 1998, for example, the Preliminary Why a port? One of the principal Master Plan for Port Expansion in points in Malaga’s favor is the depth the Pacific suggested Malaga Bay Since the of its channel, especially important as an alternative in the long-term, 1990s, a tug of given the global tendency for using meaning in 2020. The report recom- war between ever-larger boats. At the beginning of mended expanding Buenaventura governors, the 1990s, a fear of future congestion in the short term. For the medium at the Buenaventura port was further term, it suggested the construction environmen- impetus for supporters of building a of the Tribuga Port in the province talists, and the port in Malaga Bay. of Chocó. communities And finally, the government has A year after the publication of that live there proposed this port with an eye to this report, the Port and Environ- have marked constructing a port to receive ships ment Plan of Colombian Seaboards the history of that have passed through the Panama emphasized Malaga Bay as a unique Malaga Bay Canal. ecosystem home to baby whales, vul- All of these factors have put nerable swamplands and rainforests. port. this whale sanctuary in the eye of a But history took an unexpected hurricane of corporate and political turn. In 2005, guidelines issued by interests that could bring irreversible the government (CONPES) re-exam- environmental damage. From the ined the idea of developing the port beginning of the 1990s a to and fro in Malaga Bay, ignoring the recom- between governors, environmental mendations of a decade’s worth of experts and local communities have studies that highlighted the bay’s been the hallmark of the proposed environmental richness. Document Port of Malaga Bay. 3342, Plan for the Expansion of the In 1992, the company Hidro- Port System 2005-2006, stressed the estudios-TAMS considered Malaga need to improve the Colombian port as a possible “Plan B” due to the im- system as the country negotiated mediate necessity of expanding port trade agreements with other coun- facilities in this zone of the country.