From Local to National to Nature: Environmental Peacebuilding in Colombia

Date & Time
Jun 18, 2026 | 14.00 - 15.30

Participants
Chair: Juha Siikamaki, IUCN (Finland/United States)
Hector Camilo Morales Munoz, adelphi (Germany)
Gisela Paredes Leguizamón, Colectivo de GuardaParques Sistema de Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia (Colombia)
Beth Sua Carvajal, WWF CO (Colombia)

Innovation at different scales, from local to national, across Colombia illuminates creative environmental peacebuilding measures that center nature and local communities while mitigating conflict and environmental damage. While environmental peacebuilding often foregrounds technical solutions, the sessions demonstrate the critical importance of participatory and ecocentric approaches. This is shown through legal and policy innovations that recognize nature as victims of armed conflict and thus seek to guarantee reparation and non-repetition. It is also demonstrated by illustrating the gaps that exist in the application of environmental peacebuilding to grassroots intrastate conflicts due to an over-emphasis of technical approaches. These insights point to the need for a reimagined approach that is more attentive to the lived realities of communities. Beyond participation in governance and policy design, the panel highlights the viability of citizen science, capacity building, and nature-based livelihoods in supporting post-conflict recovery. Together, these approaches demonstrate how communities and governance actors across Colombia are advancing more inclusive and effective environmental peacebuilding strategies across scales.

Local Lessons for Environmental Peacebuilding: Campesino–Conservation Conflicts in Colombia

Beth Sua Carvajal, WWF Colombia (Colombia)

Progress in Recognizing Nature, Park Rangers, Protected Areas, and Territories as Victims of Armed Conflict, with Guarantees of Reparation and Non-repetition: A Call for Reconciliation and Environmental Peace for All

Gisela Paredes Leguizamón, National Natural Parks of Colombia (Colombia) 

Environmental Peacebuilding Policy in Colombia: Why Coordination among Climate, Peace, Security, and Environmental Sectors is Essential at the National Level

Héctor Camilo Morales-Muñoz, adelphi (Colombia)