Amazon Alive Activity
The government’s presence in Colombia’s Amazon is limited because of the region’s geographical remoteness and because illegal groups have historically occupied the Amazon, driving and contributing to illicit economic activities. Land grabbing, intensive cattle ranching, illegal mining, and unsustainable agriculture have proliferated in the region. As a result, deforestation has increased, native vegetation and biodiversity have deteriorated, and socioeconomic inequalities have deepened. These challenges hamper the government’s achievement of its climate change mitigation goals, threaten its world-renowned biodiversity, undermine regional livelihoods, and complicate the implementation of the country’s historic 2016 Peace Accord.
Amazon Alive aims to reduce deforestation and biodiversity loss in the Amazon in multiple ways, focusing on the region’s Caquetá, Guaviare, Meta, and Putumayo departments. First, the activity strives to improve the effectiveness of the government’s response to environmental crimes by strengthening social cohesion, responsive governance, and environmentally sustainable economic development. In addition, the activity seeks to improve forest management and conservation practices to protect the biological richness of Colombia’s Amazon by promoting sustainable economic alternatives for local populations and motivating residents to reduce threats to biodiversity through behavior change.
By improving environmental governance and promoting sustainable economic growth, Amazon Alive strives to conserve the rich biodiversity in Colombia’s Amazon and cultivate sustainable, economically viable livelihoods for its populations.
