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Biodiversity of Colombia: Can science and politics share the same habitat?

Cristián Samper K.
Director, Alexander von Humboldt Institute, Colombia
Chairman, SBSTTA (Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice), United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

Third Darwin Initiative Lecture, London, 13 December 2000

Islands in a green sea: the tepuyes of the Amazon

As you travel the vast expanse of the Amazonian Rain Forests in Colombia, you will suddenly run into one of the most spectacular sites in the world: Chiribiquete National Park. Rising more than 1000 feet above the jungle, like islands emerging from a green sea, you will find massive rock formations with steep edges. These mountains or Tepuyes, are some of the oldest rock formations in the Amazon, left standing as the rest of the rock formations were eroded during millions of years. This is what some have called wilderness, hundreds of kilometers of uninterrupted rain forest, home to thousands of species found nowhere else in the planet.

During a recent visit by our field team to Chiribiquete, we ran into ten tapirs, two jaguars and several dozen undiscovered species in a single day. Our journeys have taken us to survey thousands of hectares of this unexplored land, without encountering a single human being for weeks at a time. That is, until you start climbing up the faces of the mountains, where suddenly, some 500 feet above the jungle, you run into hundreds of pictographs. A truly remarkable collection of paintings made thousands of years ago by our ancestors, the Karijona indians. As you survey these pictographs you realize that there must have been thousands of indigenous peoples in this area in the past and, for some reason that is not entirely clear, they abandoned Chiribiquete. We realize then that perhaps even the most remote wilderness is not so remote nor so wild, and we are reminded of the fact that nearly every corner of our planet has experienced one form or another of human presence.

Voyages of discovery

The new world tropics are one of the richest areas of the world as far as biological diversity is concerned. This richness has inspired journeys of discovery and generations of naturalists, who have explored the secrets of our tropical nature. Two good examples were the voyages of Darwin and Humboldt, who surveyed this part of the world, and their detailed descriptions revealed the marvels of this continent to Europeans.

Two centuries ago, Alexander von Humboldt, the Prussian geologist, astronomer and naturalist arrived on the coast of what is now Venezuela. Fortunately for us, Humboldt was a prolific writer, and we have more than forty books and over 8000 letters full of detailed descriptions of his travels and thoughts. In a letter he wrote to his brother Wilhelm in the year 1801, he described his first impressions as follows:

"When the newly arrived European traveler first penetrates the jungles of South America, nature presents herself to him in an unexpected way…..If he is sensitive to the beauties of Nature in the wild, he will find it difficult to sort out the feelings that arise in him. He will find it impossible to single out what most excites the wonder: something in the silent stillness of solitude, or in separate things of beauty and the contrast of their shapes, or in that force and freshness of vegetative life which characterizes the climate of the tropics."

The journeys of Humboldt in South America would lead him to five years of botanizing, finding, describing and collecting countless life forms from this unexplored continent. His route would take him up the Orinoco River to the Rio Negro in the Amazon, and later up the Magdalena river of what is now Colombia to the Andean highlands and the Chimborazo Mountain in Ecuador. In a famous illustration he observes how altitude and geographical latitude determines plant and animal types, in some ways a precursor of the discipline of ecology. He also notes that animal life is a function of plant life, human life of both, and that man lives in close association with his natural environment. Humboldt was, in a sense, an 18^th Century environmentalist.

Two centuries after Humboldt´s arrival in South America, we still continue to share the same feelings as we come to the exuberant tropical jungles. Despite the work of many scientists we are still discovering, describing and cataloguing many new species, and in most cases we still have limited understanding of their ecology and evolution. Unfortunately, as we retrace the route of Humboldt we find that many of the plants and animals he found during his journey are nowhere to be seen, and the landscape has changed much as human pressure on nature has increased.

Colombia: biological and cultural diversity

One of the countries with the richest biological diversity in the world is Colombia. Located in the Northwest corner of South America, it is country of remarkable beauty, ranging from the snowcapped mountains of the Andes to the Caribbean and Pacific Coasts. The land surface of Colombia is just over 1.1 million square kilometers, approximately 0.7 % of the surface of the continents of the world. In that area we find an average of 14% of the world´s species, including 1800 bird species, 680 species of amphibians, 1,000 species of ants and some 45,000 vascular plant species. However, we estimate that at this point in time we have discovered less than 10% of the biodiversity of Colombia, especially in groups like insects and microorganisms.

This biological diversity has played a critical role for the survival of many indigenous cultures in Colombia. There are 81 ethnic tribes in the country, located primarily in the Amazonian and Andean Regions. These people have coexisted with their natural surroundings for thousands of years, and their lifestyles and livelihoods are intimately dependent on the habitat where they live. In recent centuries, many of the local communities have transformed large areas of the natural landscapes, linked with the domestication and introduction of a few species of plants and animals. Using remote sensing techniques we have estimated that as much as 97% of the tropical dry forests of the Caribbean and 70% of the Andean cloud forests have disappeared.

The question that a country like Colombia, like many other developing countries, is facing is simple: how can we conserve our natural heritage, and at the same time improve the livelihoods of our people? A simple question with a complex answer, because of the intricate relationship that exists between environment, social and economic development.

Building modern institutions for the environment

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Colombia has made the commitment to implement its objectives, related to the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable use of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.

During the last seven years, we have undertaken a major restructuring of the environmental sector in Colombia. The first steps taken involved the creation of the National Environmental System, a structural reform of the government. As a result we established a National Environmental Council, which includes representatives from all of the relevant public and private sectors, as well as academia. Another important change was the establishment of the Ministry of the Environment, in charge of setting and coordinating policies. Following the spirit in our revised 1991 Constitution, environmental management was decentralized in 34 regional authorities, and new forms for the involvement of civil society were put into practice throughout the system. Overall, a highly ambitious reform by world standards.

But perhaps one of the most striking and innovative features of this reform was the establishment and strengthening of institutions to provide the scientific and technical basis for environmental decisions. This is done through five environmental research institutes in different areas of knowledge, one of them, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute, in charge of biodiversity research. These institutes were established as a joint venture between public organizations, universities, non-governmental institutions and other relevant institutions. An innovative structure that seeks to have the best of two worlds: close enough to be able to directly influence policy, yet far enough from politics to enable long term planning that is so important in scientific enterprises.

One of the first results of this restructuring has been the development of the National Biodiversity Policy, crafted with the active involvement of hundreds of institutions and based on the best scientific information available. This policy can be summarized in three words: conserve, know and use our biological diversity. Biodiversity can be thought of as a gigantic library. Unfortunately the books are disappearing daily, and we cannot even read its contents. But if we manage to conserve the books and learn how to read them, then we may use this information.

Biodiversity, drugs and political violence

I am afraid that one of the first things that must have come to mind for most of you this evening when I mentioned Colombia is political violence and drugs. To be honest I cannot blame you. When I read the headlines in the media traveling abroad this is the image that is portrayed, and much of this is based on true facts. Unfortunately, only one facet of Colombia is shown abroad, and part of the message I wish to convey to you is that there are many people and institutions working actively in the area of biodiversity, both science and policy.

The origin of the political violence in Colombia stems back to the 1950´s, when the first insurgent group was established, arguing the inequality in land tenure and income distribution. This group, known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was active locally in parts of the country. Over the years, other insurgent groups sprang up, and several of them went through a process of peace talks and became political parties. But it was over the last decade that the political situation has got worse, as many of these insurgent groups found a new source of income from illegal drugs like cocaine. Unfortunately, for those of us that have grown up in Colombia, political violence has become a fact of life, and I dare say that in some ways we have grown used to it, and we tolerate it. Perhaps this explains our apparent lack of shock, as hundreds, even thousands of people are murdered in the midst of this conflict.

You may be wondering why I am spending time addressing issues of drugs and violence, and the reason is that both have a direct impact on biodiversity. Let us first take the crops used to make illegal drugs, like cocaine and heroin. There are an estimated 120,000 hectares of coca plantations in Colombia, most of them established in the frontier lands where tropical forests have been cleared. The policy against drugs for the last decade has included eradication of these crops through the use of chemical herbicides, which cause pollution of water sources. But as most of you realize, this is only a temporary solution; new areas of forest are cleared to replace the areas sprayed, the process will continue as long as there is demand, and we do not have an alternative source of income for peasants in these rural areas. To make things worse, both left wing and right wing armed groups control the traffic of the drugs, make hefty profits from this activity, and finance their armies. In many ways it a never-ending spiral where violence is fueled by drugs, and the environment and biodiversity lose.

The political violence has also had major impact on biodiversity research. Some parts of the country where there is active violence are too dangerous for researchers to work in. Our international collaborators fear coming to work with us, and the isolation of our scientific community is growing. You may wonder why some of us have opted to work in the midst of this conflict, sometimes risking our lives. For me, it is a country full of treasures waiting to be discovered, a biologist's paradise. At the same time, we cannot afford to stop our research at this time. Not only am I convinced that it is possible to work in the midst of this conflict, I truly believe that our work on biodiversity and environment can help resolve the conflict.

The Convention on Biological Diversity: Hope and frustration

One of the most striking characteristics of the last two decades is that we have started realizing that many environmental, social and economic aspects need to be addressed at the global scale. The consumption of drugs in the streets of Europe and North America has impacts on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Colombia. We are increasingly aware that our activities at the local scale can have regional or even global impacts, be it the extinction of a species or the impact of pollution on climate change. Our nations are addressing more and more issues in international and global fora.

Nearly a decade ago there was a very significant step in this direction. Leaders from more than 100 nations gathered in Rio de Janeiro to hold the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the "Earth Summit". The outcome is known to most of you, and includes three conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification, as well as Agenda 21. For those of us that were present at this summit, this was a time of renewed hope, as environmental issues had reached the highest levels of political commitment to date. There was an emerging commitment for global cooperation at many levels, political, scientific, technical, financial.

For the last few years many of us have been involved in many, many meetings and hours of negotiations, trying to design mechanisms and agree on targets to implement our commitments under these conventions. However, I sense a growing sense of frustration among politicians, scientists and the general public. As we approach the tenth anniversary of the Earth Summit, we must ask ourselves how much real progress we have made in fulfilling our commitments.

I would like to argue to you that part of our lack of real progress in the area of biodiversity is due to the fact that science and politics so far have not shared the same habitat. And they simply must. The best of world science is not being used by decision-makers, and relevant information is not getting to the right people at the right moment, nor in the right language. At the same time, decision makers are not posing clear questions or providing the necessary support to the best scientists and scientific institutions around the world. We need to have science-based policy, and this can only be achieved by bringing the two together.

I would like to illustrate this through two examples of policy debates that have taken place this year and are related to biodiversity. First, the successful negotiation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, after five years of expert meetings and one full year of high level negotiations. In this case, the lack of scientific information on the real impacts of transgenic crops has resulted in large uncertainty, and the adoption of precautionary approaches that may be used as trade barriers. The second example is related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the recent negotiations related to the inclusion of forests under the Clean development Mechanism. In this case we can see the impact of scientific information derived from the International Panel on Climate Change, as evidence for climate change is improving, and at the same time, the lack of adequate information on the role of forests as carbon sinks, not to mention the potential collateral benefits of reforestation and restoration on biodiversity.

Global science for biodiversity

I have had the opportunity to serve as the Chairman of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, also known as the SBSTTA to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This has been a very challenging opportunity for me personally and professionally, and as a scientist I have had to learn the inner workings and language of the United Nations System. With the help of many persons, including several present in this room tonight, we have set out to try and improve the operations of the Convention overall, and especially to improve the quality of science- based policy decisions.

So far we have focused on a re-engeneering of existing structures under the Convention and the SBSTTA, which include:

• Streamlining the agenda, defining clear priorities
• Establishing inter-sessional scientific mechanisms to provide better inputs
• Strengthening the clearing-house mechanism to promote scientific and technical cooperation
• Foster increased collaboration with other conventions and relevant processes

However, I must confess that these measures are probably not enough, and that we need to take additional steps to strengthen scientific inputs for the implementation of the Convention. I am concerned that the investment for these activities is not in place, and worry when I see that biodiversity research is in many ways excluded from funding through the Global Environment Facility. Furthermore, most developing countries do not have the adequate scientific and technical capacity that is required to implement the activities required under the CDB and monitor its impacts.

I would therefore like to call for a significant increase in capacity building and support for biodiversity research and information management worldwide, including developed and developing countries. We must train more scientists in key areas, and at the same time strengthen the institutions they work in. We must facilitate access to relevant information, and collaboration across the borders of our nations. We must strengthen our capacity to carry out science that is policy-relevant, and base our decisions on this information. We must bridge the gap that exists between science and policy.

The legacy of Darwin

One of the most interesting examples I have encountered in this regard is the Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species, established to promote collaborative projects between British Institutions and their foreign collaborators.

I first ran into the Darwin Initiative some four years ago, through one of our partner institutions, Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Some five years ago the Colombian Congress passed a law recognizing the importance of botanical gardens for biodiversity, and included measures to strengthen their work. This was coupled with the design of a National Plan for Botanical Gardens, where we greatly benefited from the experience of institutions like BGCI. The National Plan included as one of the key actions the establishment of an information system on collections held at these gardens.

Three years ago, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, The Colombian Botanical Gardens Association and the Humboldt Institute joined efforts to prepare a proposal for the Darwin Initiative. We were successful, and thanks to this collaboration we now have an information system for botanic gardens in Colombia. The project has included the translation of software for information management into Spanish, training and capacity building in 16 gardens, and information on thousands of collections available to gardens, scientists and decision makers. I should also mention that this project has also resulted in the strengthening of the network of botanical gardens, and their collaboration with other gardens abroad.

The Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species has played a significant contribution for biodiversity research in many countries around the world and is, in many ways, a unique initiative. Its is also a clear example of a mechanism to promote scientific and technical collaboration, a Clearing-House Mechanism as stated in Article 18.3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. As we prepare for the tenth anniversary of its launch in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, we need to clearly analyze the results and lessons learned to date, and build on its strengths. I would especially like to make four recommendations that should be kept in mind in this process:

• Link the priorities of the Darwin Initiative to the work programme and decisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

• Make sure that partners in developing countries are involved in all stages of the project, including design, implementation and evaluation.

• Include a strong component of capacity building, so the results will have long- lasting effects that extend beyond the life of the project itself.

• Encourage replication and dissemination of results across developing countries.

We need to continue the voyage of discovery that was started by great explorers like Darwin and Humboldt two centuries ago. This legacy should inspire our work, as we discover and describe our natural surroundings, design ways to conserve it for the future, and find ways to ensure that the people of this planet can benefit from it in an equitable way. We need to pursue this goal together, we have the capacity to do this, and we have the responsibility to do it. For us, for our children and grandchildren, and for the biological diversity of this wonderful living planet we call our home.

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