At the branch of Heaven, as the city of Cali is known, the Colombian Navy participated in the forum Climate Change Management and Biodiversity Protection in the Military Forces, within the framework of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity – COP16, where it shared its experience and the results of its conservation efforts, highlighting how its military operations and research operations contribute to the preservation of natural resources and the strengthening of the sea environment in the territory.
This space not only led to an exchange of experiences with national and international governmental and non-governmental institutions, academia and people in general, but in the same way the consolidation of inter-institutional strategies to address environmental challenges and reaffirm the commitment of the Military Forces to sustainable development.
The Director of Maritime and River Interests of the Colombian Navy, Rear Admiral Hermann Aicardo León Rincón, spoke about the work carried out by the Sailors and navy men of Colombia as guardians of the maritime territory, which represents 44.86% of the country.
Faced with the need to protect sea and river resources, the Naval Institution has made these natural resource conservation tasks a fundamental pillar of its institutional mission. Thus, to date, Colombian sailors have found 12.3 tons of illegal fishing, 2,800 cubic meters of flora and 159 machinery that were being used for the illegal exploitation of mining deposits. They have in the same way rescued 4,700 endangered wildlife specimens and arrested more than 160 people for environmental crimes.
These effective and powerful operations, carried out thanks to the naval power and human talent of the institution, not only protect biodiversity, but ensure the stability of coastal communities that depend on these ecosystems to survive.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
