Colombia moves to protect Amazon

Colombia has taken a groundbreaking step by becoming the first
country to declare its entire Amazon region off-limits to new
large-scale oil and mining projects

Amazon biome

Acting Environment Minister
Irene Vˇlez Torres (above)
says entire Colombian
Amazon will be made
a reserve for renewable
natural resources

Decision halts 43
pending oil blocks
and 286 mining
requests, as well
as future projects
in six Colombian
departments

BRAZIL
COLOMBIA
ECUADOR
PANAMA
PERU
VENEZUELA

Barranquilla
Bogot‡
Cali
Medell’n

Amazonas
Caquet‡
Guain’a
Guaviare
Putumayo
Vaupˇs

CARIBBEAN SEA
PACIFIC
OCEAN

200km
125 miles

500,000 square km
Approximate area of
Colombian Amazon
protected from new
oil and mining projects Š
area roughly equivalent
to size of Sweden

7% of total
Amazon
rainforest

42% of
ColombiaÕs
territory

Sources: ACA/MAAP, GNN
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
© GRAPHIC NEWS