Conflict, environment and transition: Colombia, ecology and tourism after demobilization

Abstract

In 2016, as Colombia’s left-wing guerrilla FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Ejército del Pueblo) began the demobilization that had long been the goal of peace talks in the country, the group left its camps in the forests and mountains and began to relinquish its arms. While demobilization and the ensuing peace accords brought renewed hope that after decades of armed conflict, the country could imagine different political and social relations—as well as new ecological and economic conditions—multinational corporations filled the “void” left by FARC-EP forces.  While corporate interests in Colombia’s natural resources predated the demobilization, for the most part, extractive processes were restricted—and, in some cases, prevented—by the dynamics of the armed conflict. In 2016, however, immediately following the demobilization, deforestation in Colombia jumped 44%. Indeed, in the transitional demobilization period, huge swaths of the country have been and continue to be opened for economic development. Thus, while the environment is often a victim in armed conflict, in Colombia, conflict contributed to the preservation of some areas and demobilization and peacemaking—and subsequently development—have resulted in environmental degradation and despoliation. Among the forms of development that have emerged in Colombia (and, we note, in other post-conflict contexts), “ecotourism” has risen quickly to the fore.  While ecotourism—a form of tourist travel that suggests visitor immersion-in and engagement-with the natural environment and ecology—may offer some promise, it should be viewed with caution because it imposes a certain relationship between humans and nonhuman environment and serves to perpetuate the logics of capitalism.