Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their Embassy in Bogotá has been monitoring the return of the displaced Wiwa Indigenous Communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, and what is their assessment of the security in that region for indigenous communities.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain concerned at the violence facing the Wiwa community. Embassy officials visited and discussed security concerns with Wiwa communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in October 2024, and raised these issues with local authorities, the Ministry of Defence, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace. Supporting Colombia in its commitment to secure a lasting peace is an important priority of this Government. We are working with the Colombian government and other partners to implement the 2016 Peace Agreement, including the Ethnic Chapter. We support the protection of the Wiwa indigenous peoples through our funding of civil society organisations and UN agencies.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether UK aid is being used to address the depletion of important ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain concerned about the environmental damage from organised crime in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and Embassy officials have raised this with the Ministry of Environment. Through the Magna Carta Fund, the UK has supported civil society to protect indigenous environmental defenders. This has included the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where we support protection and judicial mechanisms for environmental defenders, and contribute funding to conservation and restoration schemes to protect fragile ecosystems.