Oil Palm Plantations in Colombia Expand into Indigenous Territory
▻https://intercontinentalcry.org/oil-palm-plantations-in-colombia-expand-into-indigenous-territo
A new video released this weekend from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to commemorate the UN’s Day of the World’s Indigenous People, shows the devastating effects of the growing palm oil sector on the lands and rights of farmers and indigenous peoples in Colombia. Currently the world’s fourth largest oil palm producer, Colombia is promoting both national and international investment in this sector, and has been opening the country’s vast eastern plains (llanos) to companies expanding their palm plantations.
EIA’s video, “Between Water and Oil Palm,” is a collaboration with Colombian group La Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (Justicia y Paz) and has documented how investments have come at the expense of indigenous rights in Mapiripán, Meta, Colombia. One company, the Italian-owned Poligrow Ltd, has prohibited the Jiw and Sikuani indigenous communities from using traditional hunting and fishing lands, and prevented access to a culturally revered site, Las Toninas—a lake considered sacred and home to pink dolphins. The Jiw report that no free, prior, or informed consultation has taken place regarding Poligrow’s operations and that the company’s expansion limits their right to freedom of movement.