This week the country received great news: the decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague in which Nicaragua’s claims to expand its territorial sea over our waters and maritime subsoil were denied.

Our sovereignty and the use of the islanders’ very important natural resources were protected. As a country we have great reasons to celebrate this triumph of our nation.

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We also have another piece of good news that is little talked about. Recently, another ruling was issued in favor of San Andres and Providencia, which put a stop to an initiative that would damage the fragile ecosystem of the region.

The history of the Coast Guard Station in the middle of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve

This is a coast guard base that the National Navy intends to build in Providencia. Given the undeniable presence of the Raizal population, the prior consultation process was carried out and the community was emphatic in rejecting the project and presenting their disagreements, which blocked its execution.

But it was in February 2021, two months after the fury of Hurricane Iota destroyed 98% of the houses and infrastructure of the island of Providencia, when the Navy, brazenly taking advantage of the emergency situation, began work and built the pier.

The brazenness went even further because the Navy built it over an important refuge of species and mangroves that allow erosion control, fulfill a landscape function, maintain the quality of the ecosystem, provide protection from strong winds and allow connection with other strategic ecosystems.

The refuge that the Navy intended to raze is also home to species of local and national importance, and is a site of social, economic and cultural importance for its inhabitants.

The Raizal community, led by their traditional fishermen, among them Edgar Jay Stephens, Santiago Taylor Jay and Marcela Ampudia Sjogreen, mobilized and filed a popular action that a few days ago was ruled in favor of the people of Old Providence. The court ordered the destruction of the pier.

The ruling in favor of San Andres and Providencia

For two substantial reasons, the Administrative Court of San Andres and Providencia ordered the cancellation of the project and to refrain from any construction (Link 1).

First, it protected the right to a healthy environment, since the works were going to destroy a protected area destined for conservation. Ninety-seven percent of the territory where the Navy intended to advance the project was classified as mangrove area, mangrove buffer, Gully drainage and beach area, including the mouth of the Bowden Gullie River. These elements are part of the core of the Seaflower Reserve, the largest of its kind in Colombia and throughout the Caribbean, which was recognized by Unesco in 2000 for its great environmental and scenic value.

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In addition, the project was carried out contrary to the Land Use Planning Scheme (EOT), according to which the entire area is intended for the conservation of natural wealth, as stated by the Autonomous Corporation of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina CORALINA, and which the Navy openly ignored, “knowing the legal restrictions and the determined [socio-environmental] impacts”, the ruling states.

The Navy also systematically failed to comply with its charges and obligations and omitted studies, risks and compensations. Faced with this, the Court reiterated the importance of applying the principles of prevention and precaution, which are fundamental in environmental matters.

From Providencia to Gorgona

It is inevitable to compare the ruling in favor of San Andres and Providencia with the case of Gorgona National Natural Park. Gorgona and Providencia are protected areas of immense natural wealth and biodiversity, with permanent presence and interaction of Raizal and Afro-Colombian communities.

The Navy is also trying to install military infrastructure on Gorgona Island, including a dock, seriously affecting the environment, ecological integrity and conservation values of this very important protected area in the Pacific.

Undoubtedly, the Navy is an indispensable force to guarantee sovereignty in the coastal and insular territory, but its docks, substations and military infrastructure cannot be erected on strategic environmental zones, whose main value is the biological contributions they provide in the present and for future generations, especially in the midst of such a global climate crisis!

The victory of the fishermen and other inhabitants of Providencia must open the way for the victory of Gorgona. With unity, peaceful mobilization and strategic litigation, the Raizal people of San Andres and Providencia won this battle in favor of their territory and the environmental interests of Colombia. Now it is the turn of the fishermen of Guapi and Bazán, all the communities of the Pacific and all of Colombia to repeat the feat.

The main objective of the united struggle is of enormous importance: that President Petro definitively cancels the project in Gorgona and that, above a U.S. radar that in no way responds to our national interests and only to those of the superpower of the North, the protection of our natural heritage is imposed.

That science and research prevail over an unnecessary dock. Let the whales, turtles and all the biodiversity of this area prevail over a substation that turns a national park into a military base of operations.

The future generations of Colombia will be grateful that we support with all our strength these great actions in defense of our natural heritage.

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