Colombian drug cartels blamed for the destruction of rainforest
Pastor Dale Morgan
Colombian drug cartels blamed for the destruction of rainforest*
By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor
Last Updated: 2:50AM BST 23/05/2008
Drug cultivation is the biggest cause of deforestation in Colombia with
741,000 acres of rainforest cleared every year, the country's
vice-president has said.
Slash and burn in Columbian rainforest
Aerial spraying destroys everything, forcing Colombia's peasant farmers
to move to new land and clear more forest
So far, Colombia's coca producers have destroyed 5.5 million acres of
rainforest – an area larger than Wales – with slash and burn cultivation.
About half a ton of pesticides, fertilisers, sulphuric acid and other
chemicals are then used to turn every acre of coca into pure cocaine.
Francisco Santos Calderon, the vice-president of Colombia, told The
Daily Telegraph that the environmental "devastation" caused by drug
producers had gone largely unnoticed. The loss of rainforest was the
hidden consequence of buying cocaine in Europe or America.
Mr Santos said: "This destruction of the rainforest for coca production
and coca plantation has gone on under the radar of the
environmentalists. We hope that this will be a wake-up call. We hope
that the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace will start saying 'what is
this?' "
Colombia is the world's largest producer of raw coca, with about 700
tons emerging from its forests each year, according to official figures.
Mr Santos believes that the figure is actually a lot higher. "I think
they are underestimating the amount of cocaine in the market," he said.
The drug cartels buy coca from Colombia's peasant farmers for about £250
per pound. After being refined into cocaine, the same quantity can then
be sold for about £15,000 in Europe.
The favoured smuggling route has changed dramatically. Once, most
narcotics were sent north to the Caribbean for onward shipment to
Europe. Today, Colombia's cocaine is sent to neighbouring Venezuela and
then across the Atlantic to West Africa.
A string of tiny countries along the African coast, notably
Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Guinea-Conakry, are rapidly becoming
narco-states. Incapable of policing their coastlines or airspace, these
countries are convenient staging posts for trafficking drugs to Europe.
"It's a huge change and it has happened very quickly and I think more
changes are to come," said Mr Santos.
He pointed out that West Africa's climate was ideal for growing coca. "I
have no doubt that in five years, you're going to see production [in
West Africa]," he said. "In countries that have such weak institutions,
it's going to be a mess."
But Colombia's controversial, US-funded policy of eradicating coca
fields is also inflicting immense environmental damage. Last year, the
authorities destroyed about 400,000 acres, mostly with indiscriminate
aerial spraying.
Colombia's peasant farmers grow coca alongside normal food crops. Aerial
spraying destroys everything, forcing them to move to new land and clear
more forest.
Mr Santos, 46, urged Europe to help the farmers by reforming the Common
Agricultural Policy.
"If our farmers and our peasants were able to export to the European
Union without the tariffs and without the barriers, we would have a
farming sector that would be more competitive and a lot of peasants
would not go into drug-growing," he said.