Colombia: Colombia Tree Loss Spikes as Peace Deal Leads to Land Grabs

Jun 27, 2018 | Caitlin Tilley, Climate Change News
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Tree loss in Colombia for 2017 jumped by 46% from 2016 to 2017, a World Resources Institute report revealed on Wednesday. It follows a doubling of tree loss between 2001 and 2015. The spike is linked to an outbreak of land-grabbing after Colombia’s largest rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. Farc had occupied vast areas of forests, including much of the Colombian Amazon. The guerillas reportedly ordered inhabitants to sustain a certain amount of tree cover, to hide their activities from government planes.