Environment of Colombia
Environmentally, Colombia is a mega-diverse country from its natural land terrain to its biological wildlife. Its biodiversity is a result of its geographical location and elevation. It is the fourth largest South American country and only country in South America to have coasts in the Pacific and Caribbean ocean. Colombia’s terrain can be divided into six main natural zones: The Caribbean, the Pacific (including Choco’s Biogeographic rainforest), The Orinoco region, The Amazonia region, the Andean region, and the Insular region. 52.2% of the environment is predominately the Andes, Amazon, and Pacific Basins, followed by the Orinoco basin 13.9%, the Andes and the Caribbean. The Tropical Andes, Choco, and the Caribbean are considered biodiversity hotspots which puts these areas at high risk of concentration of colonizing activities. Colombia hosts over 1800 species and at least one new species is detected every year. Decades of civil war and political unrest has impeded biological and environmental research in Colombia. The political unrest in Colombia catalyzes the alteration of land patterns through the cultivation of coca and opium crops, the redirection of extractive activities, and land abandonment in some areas.
There are many environmental issues in Colombia.
Current issues include deforestation resulting from timber exploitation in the jungles of the Amazon and the region of Chocó, illicit drug crops grown by peasants in the national parks of Serranía de la Macarena and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and soil erosion.
There is soil and water quality damage from contamination by the use of chemicals in the coca-refining process, spillage of crude oil into the local rivers as a result of guerrilla sabotage of pipelines, and overuse of pesticides, air pollution (especially in Bogotá) from vehicle emissions, and the preservation of wildlife.
Natural hazards include highlands subject to volcanic eruptions, occasional earthquakes, and periodic droughts.
Colombia loses 2,000 km2 of forest annually to deforestation, according to the United Nations in 2003. Some suggest that this figure is as high as 3,000 km² due to illegal logging in the region. Deforestation results mainly from logging for timber, small-scale agricultural ranching, mining, development of energy resources such as hydro-electricity, infrastructure, cocaine production, and farming. Around one-third of the country's original forest has been removed as a result of deforestation.
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