Currently some 33 IIRSA projects, including a number of trans-border projects, are slated for implementation in Colombia. Together these projects require an estimated investment of $2.4 billion. Nearly all of them fall within 2 integration hubs: Amazonian and Andean. The majority of projects correspond to the road transport and border crossings sectors.
Colombia has been suffering from years of recurring violence and political instability. At the same time, interest in promoting IIRSA-style development in the country is growing. This could be bad news for the country’s rich cultural heritage and biodiversity stores. The large number of road transport projects in the IIRSA portfolio is particularly troubling, given the tendency of such projects to fuel deforestation, often with ill consequences for the biological and cultural health of entire regions.
Forest degradation in Colombia represents a percentage much higher than the world’s average. The 947million hectares of forests in Colombia are home to a vast cultural and biological diversity. Colombia has decided to implement Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, REDD+ strategy, which also includes the role of conservation, sustainable maintenance of forests, and the improvement of forest carbon reserves.