Colombia is fortunate in that it possesses approximately 10% of all known biological diversity; the largest number of ecosystems in the world. With 99 different ecosystems, it is the third most “megadiverse” country on the planet. This diversity is also reflected in the ethnic make up of the country which has a wide variety of indigenous cultures and people of African descent, making it the third most ethnically diverse country in the Americas. It has consolidated the coherent institutionalization of environmental issues through the National Environmental System (SINA), and has achieved a great deal in terms of decentralization – with 80% of environmental investment made by the regions –, regulations and law. However, there is a need for further strengthening in light of the complexity of the region and the confluence of the economy’s actors and sectors, which generate conditions for various kinds of conflict and territorial dispute. Moreover, the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Developments faces the challenge of coordinating the sectors on the issue of water in terms of availability, purification and basic sanitation, given its importance for the national MDGs.
10% of Colombia’s territory is made up of protected areas and 28% is indigenous ”resguardos” , representing a challenge for local and national governance. To date, over 40% of the ecosystems have undergone dramatic and serious change. According to the Institute of Environmental Studies (IDEAM) in 2000 25% of municipal headwaters showed signs of water shortage and this figure is forecast to rise to 55% in 2015, especially in the Colombian Andes where 80% of the national population is concentrated. A recent study financed by the World Bank showed that the cost of the country’s environmental degradation amounts to 3.7% of the GDP, with the most notable elements being related to water, deforestation, natural disasters and the impact of climate change. This is largely due to the need to strengthen the environmental agenda in national processes and organize them to incorporate a sustainability approach.
As regards climate change, it is estimated that the country will undergo an average rise in temperature of 1-2˚C in 2050, leading to a 40-60cm rise in sea level and increased rainfall; what is more, 78% of glaciers and 56% of high plateaus will disappear. To name just a few, dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever epidemics (affecting up to 8 million vulnerable people) will also be on the increase. A more immediate effect will be a considerable increase in flooding and landslides resulting in a loss of agricultural land and a concomitant increase in the number of people affected by natural disasters.
In view of this situation, despite the exquisite richness of Colombia’s natural heritage, information available on the effects of increasing environmental degradation and climate change combined with the dynamics of development – with poverty vectors, social and political conflict, high vulnerability to disasters, regional inequity, illicit cultivation, pressure on the supporting ecosystems and a worrying humanitarian situation –, shows that attainment of the millennium goals is threatened at national level. It is therefore necessary to integrate the potential generated by sustainable use of natural resources and climate change adaptation initiatives, as an opportunity to improve living conditions, empower communities (indigenous, afro-descendants and country people), facilitate consensus on socio-environmental conflicts, improve land use planning and ensure the sustainability of development. However, initiatives with remedial and isolated measures which fragment the ecosystems even more and hinder interventions in the territory, narrowing local governance and thus adding to the problem are to be avoided.
The programme aims to integrate and coordinate the environmental aspects of the country’s development agenda, influencing macro policies defined by the national Government within concurrent political frameworks relating to integrated water resource management and climate change. To further these processes at regional level, the Colombian Massif area has been identified as Colombia's Water Sponge, home to 65 water areas from which the country’s largest rivers originate: Magdalena, Cauca, Patía, Caquetá, Putumayo and Saldaña, all key affluents for the country’s agricultural development and which supply around 70% of the Columbian population. The region is home to seven indigenous ethnic groups with a population equivalent to 27% of the national indigenous population, located in just 1.7% of the country’s territory.. In this area the effects of policy breakdown, degradation and climate change will be direct and due to its territorial complexity the lessons learned here will have a demonstrative effect for the country as a whole.
The National Development Plan (NDP) contains a chapter dedicated to sustainable development and the adequate coordination of economic, social and environmental dimensions. It calls for the integration of environmental considerations in development planning processes, the promotion of sustainable methods of production and consumption, the prevention of environmental degradation and its costs and guaranteed development opportunities for future generations. The Government has advocated for an update of the Land Use Planning Plan (POT) during this period, which will be used as a guide for interventions in the regions for the next nine years. It has also advocated for changes in the relationship between poverty and the environment and has defined a National Anti-Poverty Strategy as one of the Government's central policies, although the environmental component is not specifically addressed.
The NDP defines the formulation of a policy for integrated water resources management to coordinate the sector’s management and investment, and also for its national strategic contribution to strengthening the National System of Protected Areas (made up of the Regional Systems of Protected Areas which include: national parks, civil society reserves, forest reserves, buffer zones and corridors of ecological and cultural connectivity, associated with the Land Use Planning Plans). It prioritizes the development of provisions and investments that ensure the protection of strategic ecosystems in four of the areas: the Mojana, the Amazonia, the Colombian Massif, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
In relation to climate change it draws attention to its high vulnerability, both in terms of its considerable loss of species and effects on human development, and the fact that it is a country with a high incidence of natural disaster events which are on the increase. The country is developing the Second National Communication on Climate Change financed by the GEF/UNDP, with active participation of 80 entities, and one of the pilot projects of the Special Climate Change Adaptation Fund which have contributed to progress made in defining outlines on the issue. However, it has given priority to the formulation of a Comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan and the creation of a coherent institutional framework to coordinate its implementation, since this is one of the country's major challenges, as well as its implementation at regional level, which represents a challenge for the country and has a demonstrative effect at international level.
In its joint programming framework (UNDAF) the United Nations System in Colombia defines the following as a programme objective for the next five years: “Consolidated national and regional capacity for knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the preservation, management and restoration of ecosystems to ensure the maintenance of environmental goods and services”, being one of its outputs to support the development and implementation of a Public Water Policy that incorporates the integral perspective of ecosystem conservation and to support the country in its efforts to limit the negative effects of climate change.
Within this framework of national priorities, the present Joint Programme aims to support at the central level the development of national/sectoral policies with environmental aspects and demonstrative initiatives in one of the four strategic ecoregions. The national efforts are coordinated and impetus is given to achieving decisive results for the country. This approach is also innovative in so far as one region is focused on for obtaining the effects of the application of political frameworks with a high community involvement, both in terms of environmental goods and services, and of reducing vulnerability to climate change, which contributes to national and regional knowledge on the problem from which lessons can be learned and shared.
To achieve the expected outcomes we plan to build on the experience of national Government agencies in working with the communities and land use planning, and of the UNS at national level, especially with respect to the water resources management component, the aqueduct and basic sanitation programmes and the institutional strengthening programmes developed by UNICEF-ECLAC-PAHO/WHO-UNDP at regional level. Prior experience will also be coordinated from sources such as the Massif Sustainable Development Programme financed by FAO-Holland, the ECOANDINO project financed by Government-WFP-UNDP, the BIOMACIZO project and the Second National Communication on Climate Change project financed by GEF-UNDP.
