Colombian Amazon Research Articles

Could 2021–2030 be the decade to couple new human values with ecological restoration? Valuable insights and actions are emerging from the Colombian Amazon

Looking ahead to the United Nations' 2021–2030 Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, we would like to ponder and discuss two fundamental goals to improve, mainstream, and scale up ecological restoration. The first is to cultivate alternative visions of the human dimension in relation to ecological restoration and other restorative activities. The second is to develop shared protocols for planning, revamping, and monitoring the progress of social goals related to ecological restoration within the social construction theoretical framework, based on three interrelated dimensions: stakeholder‐based problem definition, social representations, and legitimation. We draw on ongoing work in Caquetá (Colombian Amazonia) to consider how these dimensions may be incorporated into tangible restoration practices. Caquetá is facing the highest deforestation rates in the Amazonian region due to a highly volatile sociopolitical context and recent armed conflicts that have claimed thousands of victims to date. We conclude that the work in Caquetá demonstrates a process of social construction that effectively couples new human values with ecological restoration. Our work also provides evidence that the human dimension of restoration is a central issue in the restoration of human, social, and ecosystem health and must be integrated into the framework of the coming Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

Primate densities at Río Puré National Park, eastern Colombian Amazonia

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Intercultural and participative strategy for prevention of cervical cancer in indigenous people

Abstract Issue Decline in cervical cancer (CC) worldwide is attributed to coverage of screening programs, but there are barriers to achieve universal care and adherence, such as geographical accessibility, language, lack of knowledge and shame for the procedure. Description In indigenous populations barriers are stronger due to beliefs, customs and language. In multi-ethnic countries, it is necessary to use public health strategies that allow approaching communities by respecting their culture. This work proposed a strategy that respects cultures, strengthens community self-management and give sustainability to a CC prevention program. A study of Participatory Action Research with intercultural approach was done with five ethnic groups in a reserve of Colombian Amazon. It was approved by Research Ethics Committee, indigenous authorities and participating women. Indigenous female leaders participated in all phases of the project: 1) Training in qualitative research, ethics and CC; 2)ethnographic research for identifying beliefs and practices on sexuality, gender relations and attitudes towards western medicine and cytology; 3)educational campaign in ancestral languages; 4)training in CC prevention program to promote adherence, sustainability and self-management. Preliminary Results No beliefs or practices were found that could be negatively affected by the CC western screening program. Women's attitudes towards cytology are positive as long as it is carried out by female professionals, accompanied by female indigenous leaders and speaking their own languages. Lessons Womeńs leadership and reflection on health and prevention of CC were strengthened. Indigenous identity was reinforced and the gap in domination relationships by western culture reduced. A favorable setting for CC screening program was built with a culturally safe practice. In a few months screening campaign will start and it is expected that women feel more interested in their own health and comfortable to attend. Key messages Intercultural health prevention programs may be successful when focus on culturally safe practices through the involvement of local indigenous leaders. Cytology perception is positive in indigenous women as long as it is carried out by female professionals, accompanied by female indigenous leaders and speaking their own language.

Ecological restoration‐based education in the Colombian Amazon: toward a new society–nature relationship

Caquetá Department, in the Colombian Amazon, has a historical context of deforestation, education of poor quality, land tenure conflicts, and social violence. Thus, there is an urgent need to restore not only the ecosystem, but also the social fabric and the society–nature relationship. This article describes the process, impacts, obstacles, and lessons learned from a program of ecological restoration‐based education for local communities. During 2017, a group of 15 local people were selected and trained in ecological restoration to become, as we called them, “local scientists” (LS). After this educative process, these LS, together with researchers from social sciences and biology, developed an ecological restoration education program aimed to local peasants. The bioregional current of environmental education and significant learning theory were the educative theoretical frameworks used. The pedagogical contents were grouped into five main themes: (1) soils, (2) farm planning, (3) river basins, (4) monitoring, and (5) social organization. During 2018, between 8 and 70 peasants per community participated in the program. The last phase, carried out in 2019, consisted of the propagation of native forest species and outplantings by the program participants, to restore the landscape connectivity in a region considered to be high priority. Peasants built 71 nursery gardens on their farms with their own labor. They produced 400,000 seedlings of 21 native forest species, which were further planted on 277 farms over 550 ha. The implications of the pedagogical process of the program, the advances in restoration of degraded forests, and changes in society–nature relationships are discussed.

Effects of agricultural systems on the anuran diversity in the Colombian Amazon

ABSTRACT We provide information on the diversity of anurans from agroforestry systems in the Colombian Amazon. This area is inserted at the tropical rainforest ecosystem and consists mainly of secondary forest remnants surrounded by crops, grasslands, and agroforestry systems. From February to May 2015, we sampled anurans mainly with visual and auditory surveys. We recorded a total of 1096 individuals of 20 species of anurans from six families at the study area. The relictual forest was the richest environment, followed by Achapo and Cacao agroforestry systems. The Achapo system showed great similarity in species composition with relictual forest; however, the latter presented the highest number of exclusive species, whereas the first presented only two and Cacao system did not have any exclusive species. Our results show that the richness can vary between the different types of agroforestry systems and highlight their importance as management tool for anurans conservation in the Colombian Amazon.

Concentración de los macronutrientes del suelo en áreas de pastoreo del departamento de Caquetá, Amazonia colombiana

El establecimiento de ganadería en el noroccidente de la Amazonia colombiana disminuye los macronutrientes en el suelo y afecta los sistemas productivos. El objetivo del estudio fue obtener información de diagnóstico sobre la concentración de los macronutrientes del suelo en lomerío sometidos a pastoreo en nueve municipios del departamento de Caquetá. Se realizaron 463 muestreos de suelo al azar para determinar la concentración en mg/kg de nitrato (N-NO3), fósforo (P), potasio (K), calcio (Ca), magnesio (Mg) y azufre (S). Se realizaron análisis de varianza (Anova) y se compararon las medias mediante la prueba de Tukey (p < 0,05). Se evidenció una concentración de N-NO3 con medias de hasta 90,57 mg/kg en San José del Fragua, El Doncello y San Vicente del Caguán, que presentan diferencias estadísticas con respecto a Puerto Rico (18,83 mg/kg) y La Montañita (5,24 mg/kg). La concentración de P en San Vicente del Caguán, Puerto Rico y San José del Fragua tiene una media entre 1,4 mg/kg y 1,8 mg/kg, y presenta diferencias significativas respecto a La Montañita (3,5 mg/kg). La concentración de K, con una media entre 46,9 mg/kg y 74,2 mg/kg, no presentó diferencias significativas entre las localidades. San Vicente del Caguán fue el único municipio que presentó diferencias significativas de Ca (1.000,9 mg/kg) y Mg (226 mg/kg) en relación con los demás. En cuanto a S, se observaron diferencias significativas entre Cartagena del Chairá (2,29 mg/kg) y San José del Fragua (4,29 mg/kg). En conclusión, se evidenció una generalizada baja concentración de macronutrientes en comparación con los valores óptimos de suelos tropicales.

Indicators of well-being among indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon: Tensions between participation in public policy making and autonomy

Abstract This article discusses application of indicators of well-being in indigenous societies of the Colombian Amazon, addressing benefits and potential drawbacks of indigenous peoples’ participation in developing indicators. Following a social information system perspective, through a case study based on fieldwork, we analyse how Indicators of Well-being among Indigenous Peoples (IWIP) contribute to indigenous peoples assessing the state of their livelihoods, managing information, and negotiating with government agencies. We address the positions of indigenous organizations and research institutions regarding repercussions of such use of indicators on their participation in developing public policy and on their autonomy. While indigenous organizations and government agencies may use information systems and indicators to promote communication and collaboration among local actors in order to counteract inequality in decision-making, use of indicators makes indigenous peoples legible to the State and are promoted in contexts of asymmetrical power relations between indigenous organizations and government agencies.

Studies in Colombian Ensifera and adjacent countries: New taxa of smallest field crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Gryllinae)

Atsigryllus sikuani n. gen et n. sp. and Perugryllus ranoredium n. sp., tiny field crickets from the Orinoquian and Colombian Amazon respectively, are described. The diversity and distribution of field crickets for Colombia is discussed.

New species of Neurostigma Enderlein, 1901 (Insecta: Psocodea: Epipsocidae) from Colombia.

In a review of the Epipsocidae from two Natural Parks in the Colombian amazon, two species of Neurostigma were found, one of which corresponds to N. xanthopterum, a new record for the country; the other being a new species which is here described and illustrated. A key for identification of the described species (males) is also presented.

Diversity and vertical distribution of psocids (Psocodea: Psocoptera) in two forests of the Colombian Amazon

Introduction: The knowledge on the diversity of psocids in Colombia has increased, following the global trend, but the main interest of most of the studies has been oriented to solve taxonomic aspects, leaving aside other biological aspects, of which little is known, such as the ecological interactions of these organisms in tropical forests. Objective: To describe the psocid diversity in two Colombian Amazonian localities and provide the first data on their vertical distribution in tropical forests. Methods: Monthly samplings of Psocoptera were conducted during new moon periods, from July 2014 to May 2015. Surveys were carried out in two localities of the Putumayo department, Colombia (Puerto Asís and Mocoa), using LED light traps. Results: During the sampling period, 152 species, in 23 genera and nine families were collected. The richest family was Psocidae, followed by Epipsocidae and Lachesillidae. More than 80 % of the species found are still undescribed, and among the described ones, nine represent new records for Colombia, and are shared with neighboring countries in the Amazon basin. Fourteen (9.2 %) species are shared by the two localities surveyed. Puerto Asís is considerably richer than Mocoa. Vertical stratification of Psocoptera was found in both localities, with the canopy being the most species rich stratum. Conclusion: The relatively high diversity of psocidos found, as well as the high number of new species, is an indicator of the need to continue the exploration of these organisms in the rest of the Colombian territory and Andean countries, especially in the Amazon foothills. Stratification of the studied psocoptera community was evident, with the canopy stratum being the richest in species, a trend that continues throughout the year.

Termites as indicators of soil ecosystem services in transformed amazon landscapes

Abstract Termite communities reflect soil conditions and the condition of the ecosystem services that they provide. The present study first evaluated the relationship between termite communities and soil conditions in a wide range of land use systems in deforested areas in the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon. Then, we identified termite indicator species for the ecosystem service levels provided by them. Termites were collected on 38 farms in both countries (12 in Colombia and 26 in Peru) at 190 sampling points (five per farm). Eight types of plant cover were identified: natural forests, secondary vegetation, agroforestry systems, sylvopastoral systems, perennial and annual crops, degraded and wooded pastures. Variables representing chemical fertility, hydrological functions of the soil, soil macro-aggregation and macroinvertebrate communities respectively, were measured at each point. Then, four synthetic indicators of ecosystem services were designed, respectively, based on this information. Termite indicator species for soil ecosystem services were searched for using the index value indicator method (IndVal). Among the 48 species collected (12 in Colombia, 45 in Peru and nine in common), 11 were identified as indicator species. Two indicator species were found in Colombia: one for chemical fertility and one for state of soil macro-aggregation. No indicator species were registered for hydrological soil functions and macroinvertebrate community biodiversity. In Peru, nine species were statistically significant indicators: four for chemical fertility, one for soil macro-aggregation, six for macroinvertebrate community biodiversity, two for hydrological soil functions, and four species were indicators for more than one service. This study presents significant evidence of the negative effects of degrading changes in land use on the abundance and richness of termite communities. The indicator ability demonstrated by termite species makes them a valuable monitoring tool. Their absence or presence can opportunely indicate the negative effects of certain management practices on soil ecosystem services. It can also indicate progress in soil restoration processes.

Socratea exorrhiza, two Amazonian palms used for thatching

Background: The palms Lepidocaryum tenue and Socratea exorrhiza provide the raw material for one of the most prized thatches of the Colombian Amazon. Roofs thatched with Lepidocaryum leaves braided along split Socratea stems are highly appreciated and demanded by local inhabitants, due to their availability and freshness; as a result, both palms are an important source of cash income. Demand for Lepidocaryum roofs has increased, especially around the city of Leticia, due to population growth and tourism. Population size structure of both palms is similar to that reported in other places of the Amazon basin.Methods: Data were collected in five indigenous communities north of Leticia, Amazonas department (Colombia). In two communities we used participant observation to collect information about extraction practices and management processes. At all five places, we also conducted semi-structured surveys among 10 harvesters and 54 households, to learn about the harvest, management, and marketing of both species. Population size structure was evaluated at El Zafire Biological Station, where was selected 40 subplots of 0.01 ha for Lepidocaryum and 12 ha for Socratea.Results: Around 4000 harvestable individuals of Lepidocaryum and about six harvestable stems of Socratea were found per ha. Thatching a 48 m2 house requires ca. 1 ha of a forest with Socratea and 0.81 ha with Lepidocaryum. The traditional management practice is to harvest all but the three youngest leaves of Lepidocaryum, and selectively log the tallest individuals of Socratea (>15 m). We discuss the management practices of the involved species, as well as trade trends and resource supply in the area of Leticia.Conclusions: We recommend maintaining and extending traditional management practices. Nonetheless, due to overexploitation near human settlements, it is also necessary to recover the populations of both species, to guarantee the supply of raw material and prevent this economic activity from becoming unfeasible.Keywords: Arecaceae, harvest, non-timber forest products, shelter, trade.

Prevalence of trachoma and associated factors in the rural area of the department of Vaupés, Colombia.

ObjectivesThe objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence of different clinical signs of trachoma and identify possible factors associated with TF.MethodologyFollowing the approval of the study protocol by the ethics committee, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Vaupés, a department of the Colombian Amazon, between the years 2012 and 2013 in two districts.Based on the records obtained from a standardized format for the clinical evaluation of the participants and the factors associated with follicular trachoma, an excel database was built and debugged, which was analyzed using IBM SPSS, Statistics Version 23 and Stata STATA (Version 14, 2015, StataCorp LLC, Texas, USA).ResultsThe records of 13,091 individuals was collected from 216 rural indigenous communities, of which 12,080 were examined (92.3%); 7,274 in the Western and 4,806 in the Eastern districts. A prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) of 21.7% (n = 599; 95% CI 20.2–23.3) in the Western and 24.9% (n = 483; 95% CI 23.1–26.9) in the Eastern district was found in children aged 1 to 9 years. Regarding trachomatous trichiasis (TT), 77 cases were found, of which 14 belonged to the Western district (prevalence 0.3%, CI 95% 0.2–0.5) and 63 to the Eastern district (1.8%, CI 95% 1.4–2.4). Children aged between 1 to 9 years were significantly more likely to have TF when there was the presence of secretions on the face (OR: 3.2; 95% CI: 2.6–3.9).ConclusionsTrachoma is a public health problem in Vaupés that requires the implementation of the SAFE strategy (S = Surgery, A = Antibiotics, F = Face Washing, E = Environment) in the Eastern and Western districts, for at least 3 consecutive years, in accordance with WHO recommendations.

Colonisation and early peopling of the Colombian Amazon during the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene: New evidence from La Serranía La Lindosa

Recent research carried out in the Serranía La Lindosa (Department of Guaviare) provides archaeological evidence of the colonisation of the northwest Colombian Amazon during the Late Pleistocene. Preliminary excavations were conducted at Cerro Azul, Limoncillos and Cerro Montoya archaeological sites in Guaviare Department, Colombia. Contemporary dates at the three separate rock shelters establish initial colonisation of the region between ~12,600 and ~11,800 cal BP. The contexts also yielded thousands of remains of fauna, flora, lithic artefacts and mineral pigments, associated with extensive and spectacular rock pictographs that adorn the rock shelter walls. This article presents the first data from the region, dating the timing of colonisation, describing subsistence strategies, and examines human adaptation to these transitioning landscapes. The results increase our understanding of the global expansion of human populations, enabling assessment of key interactions between people and the environment that appear to have lasting repercussions for one of the most important and biologically diverse ecosystems in the world.

Scaling up zero-deforestation initiatives through public-private partnerships: A look inside post-conflict Colombia

The rise of public and private zero-deforestation commitments is opening a new collaborative space in global forest governance. Governments seeking to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by protecting and restoring forests are partnering with companies motivated to eliminate deforestation from supply chains. The proliferation of zero-deforestation initiatives is creating opportunities for policy synergies and scaling up impacts, but has led to a more complex regulatory landscape. Drawing on policy analysis and expert interviews, we explore public-private policy interactions in Colombia as a case study for tropical forested nations with interest in aligning climate, forest, and development goals. We consider how zero-deforestation priorities are set on the national agenda and scaled up through public-private partnerships. We identify zero-deforestation initiatives in three overlapping governance domains—domestic public policy, REDD+, sustainable supply chain initiatives—and highlight ten multi-stakeholder pledges that have catalyzed supporting initiatives at multiple scales. Emerging from decades of armed conflict, Colombia is pursuing a peace building model based on low-emissions rural development. The peace deal provided a focusing event for zero-deforestation that converged with political momentum and institutional capacity to open a policy window. A government pledge to eliminate deforestation in the Colombian Amazon by 2020 set the national agenda and stimulated international REDD+ cooperation. Lessons from Colombia show that governments provide important directionality among the proliferation of zero-deforestation initiatives. Public pledges and the orchestration of actors through public-private partnerships allow governments to scale up efforts by aligning transnational activities with national priorities. The case of Colombia serves as a potential zero-deforestation model for other nations, but challenges around equitable land tenure, illegality, and enforcement must be overcome for multi-stakeholder initiatives to produce long-term change.

Identifying new lineages in the Y chromosome of Colombian Amazon indigenous populations.

The Y chromosome has highly informative markers, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), that are useful for making historical inferences about the settlement of the Americas. However, the scarcity of these markers has limited their use. This study aims to identify new SNPs and increase the phylogenetic resolution of haplogroup Q for the Americas, mainly focusing on the lineages of the Amazon region. Next-generation sequencing was performed on two Y chromosomes belonging to haplogroup Q-M3 using samples with divergent short tandem repeat haplotypes from the Colombian Amazon, and 14 of the new variants identified were selected for characterization in 207 samples of indigenous Colombians belonging to haplogroup Q-M3. This methodology allowed us to establish nine new lineages within Q-M3, including its paragroups. The most basal lineages were predominant in communities of Andean origin, such as the Embera-Katio, the Nasas, and the Pastos. In contrast, the most distal lineages were restricted to inhabitants of the Amazon region of Vaupés. The SNPs reported here advance the development of subhaplogroups of Q-M3 with a higher level of phylogenetic resolution than has been previously reported, which allowed the differentiation between populations that inhabit two regions of Vaupes area: the Pirá-Paraná region and the upper and middle sections of the Vaupés River, and the region encompassing the Papurí River and the lower Vaupés. They are very useful for the microevolutionary analysis of the Amerindian populations of Colombia and of the Americas.

Spatiotemporal tracking of carbon emissions and uptake using time series analysis of Landsat data: A spatially explicit carbon bookkeeping model

Reducing terrestrial carbon emissions to the atmosphere requires accurate measuring, reporting and verification of land surface activities that emit or sequester carbon. Many carbon accounting practices in use today provide only regionally aggregated estimates and neglect the spatial variation of pre-disturbance forest conditions and post-disturbance land cover dynamics. Here, we present a spatially explicit carbon bookkeeping model that utilizes a high-resolution map of aboveground biomass and land cover dynamics derived from time series analysis of Landsat data. The model produces estimates of carbon emissions/uptake with model uncertainty at Landsat resolution. In a case study of the Colombian Amazon, an area of 47 million ha, the model estimated total emissions of 3.97 ± 0.71 Tg C yr−1 and uptake by regenerating forests of 1.11 ± 0.23 Tg C yr−1 2001–2015, with an additional 45.1 ± 7.99 Tg of carbon remaining in the form of woody products, decomposing slash and charcoal at the end of 2015 (estimates provided with ±95% confidence intervals). Total emissions attributed to the study period (including carbon not yet released) is 6.97 ± 1.24 Tg C yr−1. The presented model is based on recent technological advancements in the field of remote sensing to achieve spatially explicit modeling of carbon emissions and uptake associated with land surface changes and post-disturbance landscapes that is compliant with international reporting criteria.

Reducing deforestation in Colombia while building peace and pursuing business as usual extractivism?

In this article, I examine the contradictions and tensions in Colombia's simultaneous embrace of REDD+ and a peace-building process premised on continued extractivism. Colombia is emerging from an internal conflict that lasted more than 50 years. In this process rural land-use is being transformed, generating new conflicts over land use and control with detrimental effects on Colombia's forests. Based on official documents, reports, existing scholarly work, interviews and observations collected during fieldwork in the Colombian Amazon, I analyze the ways in which peace-building and post-conflict transition have precipitated factors which have aggravated land conflicts and led to the escalation of deforestation in Colombia. I argue that Colombia's current REDD+ efforts mainly serve to attract international funding and legitimize the status quo since they remain disconnected from the structural processes that directly and indirectly drive deforestation. As such, REDD+ in Colombia contributes to a contradictory neoliberal approach to development, which promises to safeguard the environment, while supporting large-scale extractive industries, mining, cattle ranching and intensive agriculture, resulting in the increase in deforestation and forest degradation.Key Words: Colombia, post-conflict, peace-building, extractivism, deforestation, REDD+

Decolonial Sketches and Intercultural Approaches to Truth: Corporeal Experiences and Testimonies of Indigenous Women in Colombia

Abstract This article explores the corporeal and testimonial memories of a group of female indigenous ex-combatants and victims in the Colombian Caribbean and Amazon. Although these groups have often been analyzed in the transitional justice literature, our primary objective is to analyze two local processes for retrieving indigenous women’s memories and possible feminist participatory action research methodologies in the Colombian postconflict context. We examined empowering intercultural and intersectional methodologies to promote the political participation of indigenous women – both ‘victims’ and ‘perpetrators’ – in the Colombian Truth Commission implemented after the peace agreement was enacted. We explain how participatory action research should be used, including techniques such as indigenous women’s body mapping, creating testimonial spaces and conducting ethnographic observations. The article is based on a transitional justice ‘from below’ perspective as well as local transitional justice practices.

¿Por qué se pierde la agrobiodiversidad?: caso de la chagra inga en la Amazonía colombiana

En esta investigación se analizaron las causas sociales, ambientales y económicas que inciden en la pérdida de agrobiodiversidad de las chagras del pueblo indígena Inga en la Amazonía colombiana. Se usó una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas semiestructuradas, grupos focales y asambleas para validación de información. Los resultados muestran que la pérdida de la agrobiodiversidad se debe principalmente a cambios en los paradigmas de consumo y relación con el territorio; así mismo, al auge de los cultivos de coca (Erythroxylum coca) en la región, la economía cocalera y las fumigaciones aéreas con glifosato para su erradicación; a los cambios en la transmisión de los conocimientos tradicionales, proyectos externos que no tuvieron en cuenta las condiciones culturales de los resguardos; a los procesos de migración y a las pocas posibilidades de comercio de los productos de la chagra.