SPECIAL AGREEMENT ON ENVIRONMENT AND TERRITORIAL TRANSFORMATIONS AS PART OF THE IMMEDIATE ACTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PEACE PROCESS

Taking into account the country's commitments to the necessary protection of the Amazon, and the importance of the environmental agenda for peacebuilding, the parties agree to develop a space for dialogue with the ethnic and peasant peoples, occupants of the north-western arc of this region, institutions, the private sector, academia, among others, with the aim of getting to know proposals and alternatives aimed at avoiding deforestation and loss of biodiversity in the next ‘summer period’, as well as other impacts on natural resources.

In this space, priority will be given to the participation of communities, entities of the National Environmental System and the National Agrarian Reform System.

This space will be held on the days 24 and 25 of August in San Vicente del Caguán.

During the ceasefire and as agreed in the IV cycle of the Peace Dialogues Table (MDP), commissions were set up to draw up Territorial Transformation Plans in Yarí, in Catatumbo, in the interfluvium of the Ariari, Güejar and Guayabero rivers, and a socio-environmental dialogue was held in Yarumal.

We emphasise the concept of environmental protection included in the commitment defined in cycle III and that included in paragraph 3 of the San José del Guaviare Territorial Transformations Agreement.

In all the encounters, there have been specific spaces for dialogue for women and for ethnic and rural communities.

In these spaces, in a participative manner, the topics of ‘Lands, territories and environment’ and ‘infrastructure, sustainable development and population groups of special interest’ have been addressed.

As a matter of priority, the Peace Dialogues Table urges the inter-institutional and community commissions and tables, particularly those of Sur del Meta-Noroccidente del Guaviare, Catatumbo, norte-nordeste-bajo Cauca Antioqueño and Caquetá-Yarí, to speed up the inclusive dialogue between environmental institutions and grassroots communities in order to reach an agreement that will make it possible to implement in the short-term socio-environmental programmes and projects that benefit the communities, while recognising their rights as caretakers of environmentally important areas.

The commitments on Territorial Transformation and Environmental Affairs derived from the social dialogue conferences, which have been approved by the parties, are accepted as Roundtable agreements.

Consequently, the conclusions of the events held and of the inter-institutional and Community Commissions and Roundtables held to date are adopted, which include, among others, the following elements:

1. In San Vicente del Caguán, last 8th and 9th of April a social dialogue was held and days 22nd and 23rd of May the Inter-institutional and Communitarian Commission was installed, in which the topics of current occupation of the territory and figures of environmental ordering, the suitability of the soil and participative environmental zoning were tackled.

Likewise, initiatives were proposed to review the environmental viability of infrastructures required by the communities.

Work will be done on proposals and alternatives compatible with the conservation objectives in Environmental Management Areas, and the problem of concentration of lands in the region will be addressed.

It was agreed to work on ways to overcome judicial approaches and the use of force in the preservation of ecosystems, as was the case with Operation Artemis.

2. In Puerto Concordia, Meta, on 2 June, a social dialogue was held with the participation of six mayors‘ offices and two governors’ offices, and in Puerto Rico, Meta, on 14 June, within the framework of social dialogues, Working Groups were set up and an Inter-institutional and Community Commission was established with the participation of 10 entities, 8 from the Department of Meta, COPMACARENA and three mayors' offices, which addressed the requests and proposals of the communities living in the Macarena Special Management Area - AMEM-.

In the Commission, it became clear that it is important to improve the cartographic and territorial-environmental planning information available to government entities headed by the IGAC;

to identify lands within the agricultural frontier that can be subject to cadastral processes, formalisation or titling to peasant families;

to evaluate current requests for Peasant Reserve Zones;

to review productive projects with an environmental focus that include initiatives for the restructuring of livestock and the strengthening of tourism, community ecotourism, among others.

3. In Ocaña and Tibú, between 28 June and 1 July, it was agreed to move forward on the environmental land management so that farmers can use the land in an appropriate and sustainable way.

This includes the fight against deforestation, adequate water management and overcoming dependence on coca economy.

Create a technical commission for the protection of wetlands and strategic ecosystems in Catatumbo, and educate about the importance of conservation and the goods and services that ecosystems provide.

Recognise and support indigenous peoples, such as the Barí people, in their role as protectors of nature and in the implementation of environmental protection projects.

As well as implementing a reforestation plan for Catatumbo accompanied by CORPONOR.

In Tibú, a meeting and social dialogue was held with women, with contributions on environmental issues.

Likewise, the urban environmental proposals presented by the academy and young people from the region are highlighted.

4. In the regional dialogue held in Yarumal, Antioquia, last 21st June, proposals were put forward linked to sustainable experiences of rural economies and specifically a project of ecological restoration, agroforestry and labour reconversion in the municipalities of Anorí, Bagre, Yarumal, Segovia, Briceño, Valdivia, Ituango, led by CORANTIOQUIA.

In this area, the need to develop effective plans for the replacement of the economies that are now considered illegal, to promote labour reconversion projects and to support women and young people, considering the creation of a region of peace, was emphasised.

The Peace Dialogues Table urges community and environmental organisations, territorial authorities (mayors’ offices and governors’ offices), the private sector, academia, the institutional framework of the National Government, the entities of the SINA, the Directorate of Natural Parks, the Environmental Corporations, and those of the Agrarian Reform System, to maintain the constructive spirit and the willingness for common and integrative effort in the Territorial Transformation for Peace with social and environmental justice.

The territorialisation of peace contributes to the building of trust and the preservation of strategic ecosystems and the promotion of sustainable development.

The parties are grateful for the permanent accompaniment and technical support of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Colombia, the Mission to Support the Peace Process MAPP-OEA, the Colombian Episcopal Conference and the World Council of Churches.

In addition to the accompaniment of the guarantor countries Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Venezuela and the contribution of the European Union.

In Bogotá D.C., July 14 of 2024.

SIGNED BY THE PARTIES

[Translation of the handwritten signature blocks on page 3, starting from the upper-right corner]

[Only signature, no name], Guarantor, Embassador Norway

Camilo Gonzalez Posso

Coordinator of the Delegation of

the National Gov

Gloria Quinceno

Government Delegation

Leopoldo Durán G.

Coordinator of the delegation

FARC-EP

Pedro Arenas

National Government Delegation

Luis Novoa

Government Delegation

[Signature, no name]

Delegation of Government

José Tomás Ojeda Soleimani

Delegate FARC-EP

Genny Calvo O.

Delegate of Government

Cipriano Cortés

Delegate FARC-EP

Carlos Murgas Dávila

Delegate National Government

Delegate FARC-EP

Caicedo Ríos

[Translation of the handwritten signature blocks on page 4]

Special agreement on environment…

Continuation

Luz Dary Landazury S., Government Delegation

[name illegible], Ireland

Oscar G. Salazar Muñoz, Delegate of Government

Armando Franchi, Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

[No name, only signature], Delegation of the European Union

Philipp Lustenberger, Swiss Confederation

Humberto M. Shikiya, World Council of Churches

Camila Forero García, Colombian Episcopal Conference

Edelma Gomez, MAPP-OEA

[Only signature, no name] Delegate of the Special Representative of the United Nations in Colombia