Colombia: Colombia Lost More Than 158,000 Hectares to Deforestation in 2019

Jul 9, 2020 | Reuters
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Colombia lost 158,894 hectares (392,636 acres) of forest in 2019, a 19% drop from the previous year, the government reported on Thursday, amid fears that destruction of the environment may have accelerated in 2020. In 2018, Colombia, the world's second-most biodiverse country after neighboring Brazil, saw 197,159 hectares (487,190 acres) of deforestation, according to government figures. Deforestation spiked after Colombia signed a peace deal in 2016 with its largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as swaths of land became more accessible.