This has led to a social and environmental crisis due to land degradation and mercury pollution, agreed experts consulted by Mongabay Latam. The main social conflicts related to mining in Colombia are “related to territorial planning, as there is no link between community land planning and underground planning, resulting in the issuance of mining titles and environmental licenses,” Barrera said. According to the Colombian Mining Dialogue Group (GDIAM), illegal mining is mining that “does not have the appropriate valid mining title or authorization from the owner of the property in which it is carried out and, in addition, does not meet at least one of the requirements required by law: the environmental license, labour, environmental, safety or occupational health and safety standards; the technical capacity required or the payment of royalties or economic compensation necessary for the exploitation of natural resources”. In the department of Chocó, in Colombia`s Pacific region, the exploitation of gold, platinum and silver has increased significantly in recent years. Julia Miranda, Director of Colombia`s National Parks, agrees with the above, stating that “legal mining is welcome if the necessary measures are taken to prevent and mitigate the effects that this economic activity necessarily causes.” In the Caquetá River, illegal mining “affects the conservation of the Charapa tortoise (Podocnemis expansa), which spawns on beaches completely destroyed by mining in these rivers,” said Miranda, who called on judges and prosecutors to impose harsh penalties on those responsible to curb the problem. According to the director of Colombia`s national parks, Julia Miranda, the Farallones de Cali National Park; Puinawai National Nature Reserve in the department of Guainía, on the border with Brazil; The Yaigojé Apaporis National Natural Park between the departments of Amazonas and Vaupés or the marsh of Ayapel are other places affected by illegal mining. Jonás Pinzón Osorio of the College of the Atlantic, an educational institution dedicated to the study and practice of human ecology, told Mongabay Latam that with the peace agreement, the Colombian government should invest part of its gross domestic product in promoting economic development in the areas most affected by violence. Antioquia, with significant mining activity, was characterized as one of the areas most affected by the war against the FARC. Illegal mining generally does not have the expected state control, perhaps due to a regulatory framework consisting of a series of laws, decrees, resolutions and documents of the Congress, which are not very functional, where the prices to which this activity must be subject are specified. For example, Law 685 of 2001 (Mining Law), which turns 20 in August, regulates key aspects of mining in the country, develops approaches to sustainable development, and develops rules on environmental issues with which companies must comply with a mining concession contract. Code that does not correspond to the current reality of the sector. Talking about illegal mining in Colombia creates a gesture of concern on the faces of interviewees.
Some cannot hide the horror that the subject causes them. “Illegal mining in Colombia is the greatest threat to Colombian ecosystems, water, biodiversity and health. This is the biggest challenge we have,” Julia Miranda, director of Colombian National Parks, told Mongabay Latam at COP13 in Cancun, Mexico. Carlos Alberto Botero, Colombia`s deputy minister of environment and sustainable development, told Mongabay Latam that illegal mining has increased in recent years, coinciding with the peace process and agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Now that “these groups are no longer in turmoil, people come freely to these places, knowing that they will not have the consequences of being kidnapped or killed.” Marmato is an area where most of the inhabitants “work in the mines as `illegal`, in quotation marks because they do not have a permit, and there is a big problem, because there is also a Canadian company that operates this place with a government permit, and then there are those who are encouraged in legality and those who are encouraged in illegality. ” says Jonás Pinzón. Biologically, impacts are mainly natural forests, peatlands and tributaries which, if polluted, result in the loss of resources, species and animals threatened with extinction. Similarly, Law 1333 of 2009, Regulation on Environmental Penalties, a regulation contrary to Law 1437 of 2011 (CPACA), is not incorporated, but adds the fact that the penalties for the crime of illegal exploitation of mineral deposits and other materials provided for in Article 338 of the Penal Code are relatively low.
Among other things, there are factors that lead to immense environmental impacts that have a negative impact on the environment, especially on resources: geological, biological, aquatic, atmospheric and socio-economic. Some of these consequences can be avoided, but are not achieved due to a lack of regulatory efficiency. Below we highlight the main consequences of this activity and the environmental damage. Although it is complicated to document illegal mining, “it undoubtedly generates significant impacts in the Caribbean and Amazon areas where it has been implemented, and has an absolute impact on these ecosystems because they are in such a severe state of transformation that it is difficult to restore the ecosystem structure and functions that these areas had, Angela Andrade, Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Ecosystem Management Commission, said Mongabay Latam. Julia Miranda, director of Colombia`s national parks, said they had developed a plan to measure the health effects of mercury pollution among national park officials and indigenous groups, with support from experts from the University of Cartagena. The Global Atlas of Environmental Justice, a collaborative platform led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, with support from the Universidad del Valle, mapped the various environmental conflicts across the country, including conflicts related to mining and energy. According to this platform, Colombia is one of the countries with the most socio-ecological conflicts. Botero warned that new laws are being drafted to combat illegal mining, which at the time replaced kidnappings as a mechanism for funding criminal groups.
As Miranda concluded, the gold rush stops no one in their search for the economic benefits that this metal provides, but at a very high price for Colombia`s biological wealth. Geologically, due to the removal of the surface layers of the terrain, terrain instability occurs, and when rock formations are exposed, erosion occurs, which is the main cause of landslides. Similarly, the indiscriminate use of dynamite accelerates the separation of rocks and faults in the terrain, leaving behind geomorphological and topographical changes as consequences. “With the peace process and the resulting demobilization of armed actors, there is a need to strengthen territorial governance processes and create stronger national, regional and local institutions to reduce economic and social disparities in the country so that ecosystem degradation does not increase,” Ximena Barrera told Mongabay Latam. Political Director of WWF Colombia. While praising the work of the Colombian army and police, Miranda admitted that “so far we have not been able to stop this terrible crime, which is progressing at an impressive rate, without being able to develop something strong enough to stop it now.” .