GLASGOW (Reuters) – Colombia will designate a further 16 million hectares (39.5 million acres) of its maritime areas as protected next year, eight years earlier than planned, President Ivan Duque said on Tuesday at the global COP26 climate conference Climate summit sees new pledges on cutting methane, saving forests in Glasgow.
The plans envisage new conservation zones off Colombia’s Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
The Andean country has already established maritime reserves across just over 12.4 million hectares of its seas and the protection of further areas forms part of plans to protect 30% of Colombia’s land and sea area by 2030.
After bringing its target forward, Colombia will count just over 28 million hectares of its seas protected next year.
“In this way, we are reaffirming our commitment to … protecting our oceans,” Duque said in a statement.
As well as expanding existing conservation zones, Colombia will establish two additional protected areas: one located in the country’s northern Pacific and another in the Caribbean, the environment ministry said in a statement.
In creating a new protected zone in the Pacific, Colombia joins forces with regional neighbors Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama to further preservation efforts in the ocean, Duque said.
“The effort of these four countries is very significant,” Duque said, adding that between them the four countries will establish the largest protected marine zone in the western hemisphere, if not the world.
On Monday, Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso unveiled plans at the climate conference to expand the Galapagos marine reserve by some 60,000 square kilometers and seek a conservation debt swap to finance it.
(Reporting by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
