Photo: El Universal
Bogotá, 2 November (RHC) The Colombian Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad, highlighted this Wednesday the creation of the Rafa Vergara Navarro environmental alliance for Cartagena.
It is an agreement of public and social forces created as an opportunity for social and environmental justice and organized labor that begins to act with the process of restoring the Bay of Cartagena, the hill of La Popa and solving the problem of the Laguito.
Muhamad explained that this alliance seeks to unite the institutions that have worked in a fragmented way involving ethnic communities and social organizations.
“They are the living forces of the city with the local government of Cartagena to save critical ecosystems that have been deteriorating significantly for many years, putting the city at risk of climate change,” he stressed.
In this sense, improving the environmental quality of water bodies, restoring and adapting to climate change and strengthening governance in Cartagena’s strategic ecosystems will be the central pillars of this strategy.
The Alliance is made up of the Office of the Governor of Bolívar, the Office of the Mayor of Cartagena, the Regional Autonomous Body of the Canal del Dique, the Public Environment Agency of Cartagena, members of the private sector and the communities that inhabit these ecosystems and with the accompaniment of the supervisory authorities like the attorney general’s office.
It bears the name of the renowned environmentalist from Cartagena, who has worked to protect these ecosystems throughout his career.
This environmental portfolio initiative stems from the notorious impacts on marine and coastal areas, where urban expansion, port, industrial and tourism infrastructure development, and unsustainable practices for the use of hydrobiological resources are some of the main causes of the degradation of ecosystems.
Alliance commitments include acting together under an established institutional articulation to address environmental challenges, promoting the Cartagena Bay Recovery Plan and the Cartagena Climate Action Plan, designing and implementing good governance policies to improve the performance of all stakeholders to improve. (font: Latin Press).