My reflections on the positives and negatives as this area undergoes rapid development
It was lovely to be able to reflect on my impressions of the Amazonas region with my friend, Adriana, on our last night here, at Habitat Sur. The two of us first met in London, when we were both studying for a master’s degree in international development. Adriana is passionate about development, the environment and the Amazonas region in general.
Settling down, opening up
When Adriana asked me about my impressions of the places we´d visited, I said it felt like being witness to the process of development. The towns we went to – Leticia and Puerto Nariño – as well as most of the villages, were new. OK, so there may have been a few people in those places before, but pretty much everyone arrived in the last 30-40 years. Over that time, the population has grown quite rapidly, in part from immigration from more rural areas, but largely just due to people having more babies and living longer. Now, there are towns and villages strung pretty much all along the Amazon, both in Brazil and Colombia.
Over this same period the area has opened up to greater levels of trade and tourism, and development in general.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
With development comes better education and health care facilities, more opportunities for paid employment, and access to the things that people aspire to have, like flashy trainers or a new mobile phone. People in the newer developments have a much higher standard of living than previous generations did, albeit still much lower than people in western societies. For example, indoor toilets are very rare and piped water was limited to Leticia. At no point during our stay did we have hot water. But Puerto Nariño had well constructed paths, access to free drinking water, sports facilities, and electricity.
Unfortunately, through the process of development, the indigenous people are starting to lose their cultural heritage – their expert knowledge of plants, their artisan skills, their own language, and, in some cases, their respect for nature. I guess this is typical, but it is a shame that development seems to be happening at the expense of traditional knowledge, skills and values.
So that´s the good and the bad. Now for the ugly!
We were really surprised not to have seen more wildlife, or more specifically, more mammals. In some sense, this is because we are not expert spotters. The camera traps at Habitat Sur picked up plenty of wildlife including a mother puma with her baby. However, it certainly felt like there was less wildlife around than other places we´ve been, including, in fact, in rural areas of the UK where you can spot deer, squirrels, and rabbits or hares relatively frequently. And the statistics back this up. Latin America has lost 94% of its animal population since 1970, compared to 18% in Europe. The strip of land near the Amazon river is also far more built up than most of the rest of the rainforest. Why would animals stay so close to people if they can easily move away?
One guide told us that there were few animals about because people catch and eat anything that moves. Apparently there used to be herds of wild pigs, 80 strong, and people would perhaps catch one to share with their community. Now, as soon as someone spots the herd, they kill as many as they can to sell in the market, and then text their friends who can hop in a tuk tuk and do the same. Herds now are much rarer and half the size.
There is also a strong trade in wild animals in the area. Apparently, police seize at least one trafficked animal a day on average. They then release them in one of the reserves, such as Habitat Sur, or the monkey sanctuary at Mocagua. Large scale commercial fishing has also moved into the area, exporting fish by plane to Bogota and the rest of Colombia. What was once an abundant resource, and a local staple, is now in decline.
A number of species of plants and trees are also now endangered due to overuse. This is particularly true of those used for construction. While it looks pretty to have a traditionally thatched roof, big hotel chains and the like are not necessarily concerned with sourcing sustainable materials.
What to do?
Apart from having absolute power over the whole world (something myself and Adriana jokingly said we would like!), the question Adriana has been asking herself for the last 10 years is what she could do to make a difference in this region. She set up Habitat Sur in 2013, on land that had been in the family for a while but wasn´t really being used. The plot is about 2km x 1.5 km. Part of it had been used for cattle grazing, and historically there had also been a fairly small mining operation extracting the clay soil or river silt. Over 90% of the land – and the portion that had not previously been degraded – is left as a natural rainforest reserve.
The rest of the land is dedicated to three small but gorgeous holiday cabins, a home for Adriana & her husband (and no less than 7 pets!!!) and a few other buildings such as a kitchen-dining area for guests.
On the land surrounding these units, they have planted a lot of trees – both local endangered species and fruit trees. Adriana says they are already 80% self sufficient in terms of food, and that includes providing guests with 3 meals a day. Incidentally, the soil is such poor quality that compost has to be added around the trees for anything much to grow. Adriana said that last year they were really busy with building work and didn´t add the compost as usual, and the trees just didn´t produce anywhere near as much fruit. A mango tree, for example, produced 5 small mangos, while during a year where they add compost to the base of the tree on a regular basis, it will produce 30 very large mangos.
Beyond managing the reserve, Adriana has been looking at how Habitat Sur can support the indigenous population both in terms of development, but also in terms of minimising some of the downsides to development described above. During Covid they worked with another local organisation to improve local health facilities for the communities along the Colombian Amazonas region. They have also opened cultural centres, including one in Puerto Nariña, near where we stayed, to promote indigenous culture. Adriana has also started an annual festival, called Salva tu Selva or Save your Rainforest. Its aim is to celebrate the rainforest and promote its protection.
More and more, Adriana is starting to feel that education is the key to protecting the forest. And not just for locals, but for other Colombians, many of whom have never been to the Amazonas region before. Looking at ways to promote better knowledge and appreciation of the Amazon amongst children in particular feels like one of the most effective ways to preserve this wonderful, life-giving resource for future generations. Habitat Sur has done a bit in this area already, but Adriana has big plans for 2023, and I´m super excited to hear how Habitat Sur develops and the impact it will no doubt have over the next decade.
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