Page 39 - Demo

39Chiribiquete%u2019s isolation has historically made its boundaries ideal for the illegal farming of coca. However, after four years of negotiation, in 2016, the Colombian government struck a peace deal with FARC. This initiated a sharp decline in farming coca, which hit Chiribiquete%u2019s local coca farmers hard, forcing them to switch farming to beef production in order to survive.Extensive deforestation for agriculture has continued for decades, as has the spraying of plant-killing contaminants by the government in an effort to stop cocaine production. However, these contaminants, called defoliants, work by causing leaves to drop from plants, and they work indiscriminately. Not only do the defoliants kill the targeted cocoa plants, they also kill virtually any plant they contaminate. Using ex-coca plantations wasn%u2019t enough land for hungry cows and so more of Chiribiquete%u2019s pristine forests were cleared to make way for cattle ranching. Other ex-coca workers invested in palm oil plantations, as well as illegal mining and logging operations. Nearly ten years of human site investigation and forest clearing has begun a to fragment Chiribiquete%u2019s habitats and interrupt vital ecological corridors. These processes damages Chiribiquete%u2019s ability to sustain diverse flora and faunaSmall populations of endemic animals, like the Caqueta titi monkey, become trapped in small forest fragments that are separated by grassy savannah or even barbed wire fence%u2014obstacles that are highly dangerous or even impossible for the forest-dependent animals to cross. Compounding all of these issues is the risk that climate change poses to Caquet%u00e1 titis. Climate change is expected to have significant impacts in Colombia, primarily in the form of rising temperatures and extreme rainfall that will cause rapid ecosystem degradation, floods, and landslides. Climate change is also expected to heavily impact Colombia%u2019s agriculture industry, possibly leading to more habitat loss for Caquet%u00e1 titis as more land is used to grow crops.PARADISE LOST