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Colombia Amazon logging anticipated down 25% to 35% in 2015, ministry states

Deforestation in Colombia's. Amazon region is forecast to have decreased by 25% to 35% in. 2023, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said on Monday, while. warning that proof reveals that damage has increased so. far in 2024.

Colombia is one of the world's most biodiverse nations,. with countless plant and animal species calling its. communities home. Nevertheless, like in other places in the region, it loses. swathes of forest to deforestation each year.

While Colombia's deforestation decreased by around 29% in. 2022 - the most recent numbers available - that still meant some. 1,235 square kilometers (477 square miles) of forest being torn. down across the nation.

The majority of Colombia's deforestation happens in the Amazon. area.

However, if logging is expected to have fallen in. 2023, damage across the country's Amazon has actually risen by 40%. in the very first quarter of 2024 versus the year-earlier duration, the. environment ministry said in a declaration.

The situation for the nation's forests is getting worse amidst a. strong El Nino weather phenomenon which has caused dryer and. hotter conditions, causing droughts and fires throughout. Colombia.

At the same time, conflict with illegal armed groups is. putting environmental leaders under pressure and preventing. officials from the National Environmental System from doing. important work, the ministry stated.

Colombia is among the world's most dangerous countries for. environmentalists, where lots of activists are killed every. year for their efforts, according to advocacy group Global. Experience.

The mental pressure that armed groups are applying. against neighborhoods is terrible, Muhamad said in the declaration. Nature is being put in the middle of the conflict..

(source: Reuters)