Below, please find the non-technical summary of the ESDD carried out in Chiribiquete.
Background
Serranía de Chiribiquete National Natural Park is the largest continental protected area in Colombia. Founded in 1989, the park was expanded in 2013 and 2018 to its actual 42,681 km² area which includes the overlapping El Itilla Indigenous Territory. The Chiribiquete legacy landscape (LL) program area also includes as a buffer zone a type A zone Amazon Forest Reserve, and significant parts of nine Indigenous territories (Aduche, Llanos del Yarí-Yaguara II, Vaupés, La Victoria, Mesai, Mirití-Paraná, Nonuya de Villazul, Monochoa and Puerto Zábalo-Los Monos) bordering the park’s core zone. The buffer zone represents 23,536 km² of the total program area of 66,217 km².
From January to July 2023, Asesoramiento Ambiental Estratégico (AAE), a consulting firm specialized in environmental and social assessments for development projects in Latin America, carried out environmental and social due diligence (ESDD) for Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) in the Chiribiquete landscape, Colombia. Please consult the program page for further details on Chiribiquete LL, managed by Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS).
Methodology
The ESDD assessed potential program risks and impacts through an initial desktop review, further refined with information obtained from remote interviews and site visits to the program area involving four national specialists. The site visits occurred from March to May 2023, when key stakeholders, including local and federal public institutions, NGOs, farmer associations and Indigenous and local communities were engaged and assessed using different methods, namely focus groups and workshops. Maintaining a diversity of stakeholders was a challenge during the field visits, especially as the relevant Indigenous communities were spread over 10 different Indigenous territories, most of them in areas under the influence of armed groups.
Main Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
The ESDD identified two categories of risks: contextual risks and program-funded activity risks. For the Chiribiquete program, the primary contextual risks included the significant presence and influence of illegal actors and violent armed groups, poor coordination within and between government institutions, and the lack of awareness among buffer zone stakeholders regarding land and environmental rights.
The most significant risks for the program included the exposure of Indigenous and local people, as well as program staff, to violence, which limits access to areas with security concerns. Additionally, land tenure conflicts between and within farmer and Indigenous communities pose a risk for resettlements. Although there are still legacy claims related to the consultation process for the park’s last extension, it is broadly recognized that the process was conducted smoothly and in accordance with Colombian legislation. This process included a three-year preparation phase, involvement of verifying entities, agreements signed by stakeholders, and follow-up to ensure the agreements were fulfilled.
ESDD Categorization
Chiribiquete LL has been classified as a category A (high risk) program by the ESDD carried out by AAE consulting. Funded program activities were categorized as B+ (substantial) while contextual risks were categorized as A (high), resulting in the overall program risk A.
Foreseen Mitigation Measures as per ESAP
Chiribiquete’s environmental and social action plan (ESAP) establishes several measures to adapt the program activities to the local context, improving staff and stakeholders’ security, especially those contributing directly to the program. It also includes measures to ensure more participatory program management, such as developing an inclusive stakeholder engagement plan, creating Indigenous Peoples plans, and establishing a program-level free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) protocol with the support of an Indigenous Peoples specialist. Access restrictions shall be regulated through process frameworks or community engagement planning frameworks and implemented through locally adapted conservation agreements. Additionally, the ESAP includes a review of existing complaint mechanisms across the landscape.
For more information, please consult the following links: