Silencing the guns, not the birds: the EU and Colombia on a mission to make 'Peace with nature'
The Bahia Malaga Natural Park, located on the Colombian Pacific coast, is home to one of the world's richest areas of biodiversity. Around 1,400 species have been identified in this large bay, where turtles swim alongside the whales that come to breed each year.
'Our ancestors always told us that our duty was to preserve this land and leave it in good shape for future generations', explains Miller Valencia, a resident of La Plata, as he takes us by boat to the island where this community of people of African descent has lived for more than 300 years.
The community is famous for its fisherwomen who catch piangua, a shellfish that is highly prized in Colombia. The women of the community skilfully make their way through the dense mangrove swamps and plunge their hands into the mud at low tide to harvest this precious seafood.
A model of sustainable fishing
But this age-old activity is under threat. 'Our grandparents used to catch 200 dozen pianguas in two or three hours. Today, we only catch 20 dozen at most. That's a lot less', explains Rosa, a member of the Raíces Piangüeras fishing association.
Using a piangometer, she measures the shellfish to ensure that only adult specimens that have already reproduced are removed. But Rosa explains that the inhabitants of other regions are not so careful.
'They collect all the shellfish, large and small. If they are no longer able to reproduce, it means that supplies will be exhausted', says Rosa, who believes that 'this natural resource will provide us with a living for a long time to come, if we take care of it'.
The European Union is supporting these women (known as 'piangueras') through its local sustainable development programme, which involves Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities in the management of conservation efforts.
The project involves developing the piangua value chain so that it can be processed and packaged locally and sold at a better price. At present, the shellfish is mainly sold to a merchant who exports it at a low price to Ecuador.
The opportunities of sustainable tourism
Another of the association's aims has been to create a 'piangua route' to turn the shellfish into a tourist attraction. Indigenous houses have been set up to accommodate tourists, with the backing of the community council, which has made the preservation of nature a prerequisite for any economic activity.
'The idea is to enable tourists to experience the culture of the local Black community. They can learn how to fish, how to collect pingua, so that we can promote our ancestral practices', explains Santiago Valencia, a leader of the La Plata community council.
We don't want tourism to dictate what goes on in the area, rather we see tourism as a means of helping others to get to know us as we are', he adds.
In its fight to protect nature, the community also receives support from NGOs such as the WWF and from universities. Other projects include counting and observing wild animals such as turtles and leopards.
Peace with nature
Peace with nature was the theme of the COP16 conference on biodiversity, held in Cali from 21 October to 2 November.
One of the main breakthroughs was the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), through the creation of a subsidiary body.
'We need to recognise the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities, because they teach us how to do things better', Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General of the European Commission's Department of the Environment, told Euronews.
They understand and respect nature, whereas we take it for granted. The European Union funds projects that support them in this role, because they are also champions of nature, which can be a risky position', she added.
The international negotiations at COP16 also led to progress in the implementation of the GBF by the signatory states. Important decisions on the financing of biodiversity were postponed until COP17, which will take place in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2026.
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France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Thailand credits prey releases for 'extraordinary' tiger recovery
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Euronews
11-06-2025
- Euronews
Is Cyprus doing enough to fight illegal landfills?
Every year the European Union produces 2.2 billion tons of waste; around 5 tons per capita. The European Union promotes prevention and re-use, followed by recycling if not possible. The final and most harmful option is disposal. Around 15% of EU waste currently ends up in landfills and their use is heavily regulated. A 1999 Directive lays down standards to protect human health and the environment, namely surface water, groundwater, soil and air, from the negative effects of waste collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal. Only safe and controlled landfill activities are allowed. Failure to comply results in fines. The Directive limits the share of municipal waste landfilled to less than 10% by 2035. Illegal landfills across the EU have steadily decreased over past years. However, the European Commission has referred several Member States to the Court of Justice of the EU, and Cyprus has already been condemned for its failure to control illegal dumping. 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Sandu instead accused Russia of waging a 'war of manipulation and misinformation', while Dan vowed closer cooperation on tackling Moscow's 'hybrid warfare'. The unfounded claims made in the bogus channel have been directly quoted in Russian state-sponsored newspaper Pravda. In a pinned post, the creators also purport that the Telegram channel is an 'official' source of Euronews Romania reporting created by the management team to counter the recent use of doctored Euronews reports on the messaging app. However, neither the channel nor its content is the work of Euronews journalists. Euronews Romania does not have an official channel on Telegram, and said in a statement that the action is part of a "sustained' disinformation campaign that 'illegally' uses Euronews' branding. The fake account was created amid an uptick in recent weeks in false videos attributed to Euronews on pro-Russian Telegram channels, which aim to discredit or undermine the pro-European governments in Bucharest and Chișinău. These initially appeared to sow confusion and distrust in the context of last month's tense presidential run-off in Romania, which saw pro-EU centrist Dan edge to victory after a campaign marred by disinformation and alleged Russian interference. The actors behind these doctored videos have now shifted their focus to neighbouring Moldova, where recent elections and referendums have been overshadowed by Russia's hybrid war techniques. Amongst the false claims made in these videos are that the Republic of Moldova ranks first in terms of the number of carriers of sexually transmitted diseases in Europe, or that Moldova is a driver of irregular migration into the European Union. 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France 24
10-06-2025
- France 24
Nations call for 'quieter' ocean to help marine life
The din created by shipping and other human activities is rising at an alarming rate, marine conservation groups say, a major problem for sea life reliant on sound below water to survive. Whales and dolphins use clicks and whistles to communicate with their young, navigate the oceans and warn of danger and hunt for food. "Human noise pollution is drowning out these vital sounds," said Carlos Bravo from OceanCare, a marine conservation group. In a step toward a quieter ocean, 37 countries led by Canada and Panama have launched a new effort to reduce harmful underwater noise pollution. At the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, ministers from these countries committed to advancing quieter shipping design and including noise reduction protocols in their marine protected areas. "Too often, the issue of ocean noise has been sidelined in global environmental discourse," said Panama's environment minister Juan Carlos Navarro. "With this coalition, we are committing to act decisively to protect marine biodiversity from this invisible yet powerful threat." Whirling propellers from shipping, sonar from navy vessels and construction noise from offshore industry all emit sounds that can travel vast distances underwater, WWF says. Beluga whales can detect sounds from icebreaking ships up to 85 kilometres (52 miles) away, causing panic and flight, it added. Other marine mammals change their behaviour under acoustic stress, while smaller prey for these bigger ocean dwellers can also be scared off by human-made noise. One of the biggest contributors to underwater noise is cargo vessels, and cutting the acoustic footprint of the global shipping industry could have a major impact. Despite this, global efforts to reduce ocean noise "have been limited and fragmented", the coalition said. Bravo said this new coalition had taken a "crucial step towards giving marine life back their voice in the blue planet's symphony".
