Facing the clear waters of the Colombian Pacific, in the preserved region of Choco, a gigantic port was to see the light of day.
But the local populations, supported by organizations for the defense of the environment, caused the project to fail, betting on another development model.
Wearing boots, her hands protected by rubber gloves, Marcelina Moreno wades through dense mangrove vegetation in search of pianguas, a mollusk considered a delicacy in Ecuador and Mexico.
“We are not going to allow it to be destroyed, it is a natural heritage”, assures this Afro-Colombian of 51 years, about the 600 hectares of beaches, forests and mangroves surrounding the Gulf of Tribuga, where also abound tuna and prawns. “It will be for the children, so that they have enough to live on in the future,” she continues.
The region, which no road can reach, was the scene between 2006 and 2023 of a long battle between local communities and the promoters of a deep-water megaport project, equipped with quays of up to 700 meters long, in order to connect the Pacific coast with the industrial regions of the center-west of Colombia.
About 30 local governments and businessmen came together to design the project, which also included the construction of a road some 80 kilometers long through the jungle to connect the coastal town of Nuqui to the rest of the country.
In 2018, the support of conservative President Ivan Duque, who made it a priority of his mandate on arriving at the head of the country, gave a boost to the project.
But the 18,000 inhabitants of this region with lush landscapes where more than 1,500 endemic plant species grow and where humpback whales come to give birth between June and November, supported in particular by organizations for the defense of the environment, are mobilizing to dream of another type of development, more equitable and sustainable.
Local people, mostly Afro-Colombians but also Embera natives, “talk about ecotourism and artisanal fishing, selling carbon credits and different strategies that don’t affect the biome,” Arnold told AFP. Rincon, director of Codechoco, the local environmental authority which also fought against the project.
In a region where the unemployment rate is around 30% and where poverty affects 63% of the inhabitants, the project promised to bring “a lot of work”, recalls Marcelina Moreno.
A participation in the project, although “minimal”, was also announced.
But, it “was going to lead to the destruction of the mangroves, the land, everything. So (we said) no”, she recalls.
Further south, 200 kilometers away, the port of Buenaventura, Colombia’s largest cargo terminal on the Pacific coast, also showed them what they didn’t want.
A large part of its population, again predominantly Afro-descendant, lives there in poverty, without the possibility of employment and under the yoke of armed groups involved in drug trafficking.
“Buenaventura is like a mirror. The port benefits only a few,” says Rincon.
In February 2022, under the pressure of an aggressive environmental campaign, President Duque ended up reversing his decision and immediately asked Unesco to designate the area as a biosphere reserve, which was done on June 14. .
Unesco has given an “international impetus” at the request of the inhabitants, welcomes Mr. Rincon.
Tourism, which increased by 126% in the region between 2019 and 2021, according to official data, appears to be a driver of development.
Local crafts also seem to benefit from the spotlight given by Unesco to the site: fresh fish caught in the gulf is transported by plane to the tables of restaurants in the interior of the country and the viche, a cane alcohol locally distilled sugar, is popping up in the bars of Bogota.
The mangrove is “life”, assures Arisleda Hurtado, president of the local association of piangueras, these women who harvest pianguas, walking in this ecosystem which retains carbon dioxide, mitigating climate change.
“When you survive on something, you have to take care of it, you can’t destroy what sustains you,” she adds.
08/25/2023 07:52:39 – Nuquí (Colombia) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
