AFP UK

A 5.5-meter (18 feet) tall artwork took a year to build from recycled steel and is currently on display in Montreal Convention Centre, keeping policymakers at the COP15 meeting on their toes as they attempt to hammer out a nature deal

It’s not always easy to make sense of the complex environmental diplomacy taking place at a UN summit billed as humanity’s last hope to save nature.

That’s why a scientist and artist have teamed up to build a large, data-driven robotic plant that withers or flourishes depending on countries’ policy commitments: a tangible demonstration of how human actions will impact the world’s threatened species.

Called “ECONARIO,” the 5.5-meter (18-foot) tall artwork took a year to build from recycled steel and is currently on display in Montreal Convention Centre, keeping policymakers at the COP15 meeting on their toes as they attempt to hammer out a deal to protect ecosystems.

Its creator, Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker, told AFP the idea behind it is simple: “If the research does not reach us, then how can the research teach us?”

“Art reflects the time we’re in, and it should reflect these important issues.”

The plant feeds on data from the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) — an estimated percentage of the original number of species that remain, and their abundance in any given area, despite human impacts.

Data scientist Adriana De Palma of London’s Natural History Museum, who serves as research lead for the BII, told AFP it is based on a robust, peer-reviewed and open access methodology.

As negotiations happen, the team behind BII input, for example, how many countries have committed to implement a cornerstone pledge of protecting 30 percent of lands and oceans by 2030.

“We can then predict what that is going to mean for biodiversity in 20, 50 or 100 years,” she said.

– Rooting for success –

New funding pledges by wealthy countries to assist lower income nations in protecting their biodiversity have helped to nudge up slightly the predicted global average of BII to 70.7 percent by 2050 — meaning the average ecosystem will have that percentage of its natural ecological community left.

The current figure is 68.5 percent, set to drop to 66.4 percent if “business as usual” continues but rise to 76.4 percent in case of “real action” which the UN summit was meant to deliver.

For now, ECONARIO is cycling between the pessimistic and optimistic scenarios in order to show what could be possible — but if policymakers fail to achieve an ambitious target, that will be reflected in a very sorry looking robotic plant.

“We shouldn’t shy away from the hard numbers, it’s not time to sugarcoat anymore,” said Biersteker.

De Palma added they were in talks with North American museums to loan the artwork out after the UN summit concludes, and it will eventually return to Europe. 

“Using a piece of art like this to really connect with people so they see the damage that individual choices, company choices and government choices are having on the world, is incredibly valuable,” she said.

Delegates pass by a billboard at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Widely blamed for ravaging Earth’s ecosystems, big businesses are nevertheless being turned to as key players in a deal to save nature at the COP15 biodiversity conference.

With hundreds of billions of dollars needed for the task, public funds can only fill part of the gap. Campaigners and experts at the talks are demanding companies act to reduce their impact — and firms in turn are asking for clear rules of engagement.

Ministers at the meeting in Montreal are thrashing out a global agreement for the next decade to curb damage to Earth’s forests, oceans and species — with conservation and finance top of the agenda.

“One of the other things at stake in this COP is getting businesses involved,” said Pierre Cannet of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, on the sidelines of the talks.

“Whatever the outcome of the summit, they will have to ask themselves how they can curb the fall in biodiversity.”

Elizabeth Mrema, the head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that underpins COP15, said a record number of private-sector parties registered for this year’s summit, where delegates are working on a new Global Biodiversity Framework.

“Clearly they’ve listened,” she told AFP.

“They have understood or they are getting there now, understanding also the impact of their operations on nature, the nature biodiversity which we all depend on and (they) also depend (on) for their businesses,” she added.

“If they are not part of the framework, their businesses will also suffer.”

– Invest in nature –

Some $900 billion a year is needed to move from “an economy that devours nature to a neutral and then a positive economy,” says Gilles Kleitz of the French state development agency AFD.

For this, “the role of businesses is fundamental,” said Didier Babin, a researcher at Cirad, an institute that focuses on sustainable agriculture.

“More businesses have to be brought on board” to help fund the targets, he added. “They depend on biodiversity and they must invest more in the capital of nature. Nature needs to be thought of as an asset.”

One of the targets in the framework under discussion at COP15 is a section aimed at obliging big companies and financial groups to measure and publish their impacts on the natural world and their exposure to it.

The World Economic Forum said in a 2020 report that more than half of global production depends heavily (15 percent) or moderately (37 percent) on nature and services related to it. 

It calculated the value of businesses’ exposure to degraded ecosystems at $44 trillion.

The report found that the construction sector was the most exposed with $4 trillion, followed by agriculture with $2.5 trillion and the food and drink industry with $1.4 trillion.

– Measuring biodiversity impact –

At COP15, a grouping of 330 businesses called Business for Nature is pushing for a uniform framework for all corporations to report their impacts and exposure.

With collective turnover of more than $1.5 trillion, they include big names such as Unilever, Ikea, Danone, BNP Paribas and Tata Steel.

“There will be no economy, there will be no business on a dead planet,” said the grouping’s executive director, Eva Zabey.

“And so now we need governments to adopt an ambitious global biodiversity framework that will provide the political certainty and it will require businesses to contribute.”

Brune Poirson, director of sustainable development at the hotel group Accor, said COP15 “must be a key milestone” in this process.

“We need a framework with all the actors in the sector,” she said.

Efforts are gaining pace to make companies disclose their contribution to the carbon emissions that drive climate change — but relatively few companies currently declare their impact on the ecosystems that support all life.

“This summit needs to be a turning point in humanity’s relationship with nature and to do so it needs to kick off fundamental changes in the way the economy works,” said Eliot Whittington of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

“More and more businesses and financial institutions are realizing how essential action on nature and biodiversity is, but they need governments to provide the right rules and incentives to solve market failures and make change possible.”

Environment minister Steven Guilbeault announced an increase of 255 million Canadian dollars in the aid it will send to lower income countries to help them protect their ecosystems, bringing the total figure to 1.5 billion Canadian dollars annually

Canada said Friday it was ramping up its international biodiversity funding, an overture to developing countries during difficult UN talks aimed at sealing a “peace pact with nature.”

Environment minister Steven Guilbeault announced an increase of 255 million Canadian dollars (US$186 million) in the aid it will send to lower income countries to help them protect their ecosystems, bringing the total figure to 1.5 billion Canadian dollars annually.

It comes as the world’s environment ministers have converged on Montreal for the final phase of the summit, called COP15.

The talks’ success hinges on an agreement regarding the mobilization of funds to help developing countries meet the draft agreement’s more than 20 targets, including protecting 30 percent of lands and oceans by 2030.

Brazil — one of the most prominent voices at the summit — is seeking at least $100 billion from the Global North, a demand shared by India, Indonesia and African countries.

That is about ten times more than current flows, and about as much as has been pledged for adaptation against climate change (though not delivered).

When the ministers arrived on Thursday, a dozen developed countries touted new or recently increased commitments to biodiversity funding, in a move welcomed by observers and nonprofits.

The ambition remains to seal an agreement for biodiversity that is as historic as the Paris accord for climate was in 2015. 

At stake is the future of the planet and whether humanity can roll back habitat destruction, pollution and the climate crisis, which are threatening an estimated million plant and animal species with extinction.

Beyond the moral implications, there is the question of self-interest: $44 trillion of economic value generation — more than half the world’s total GDP — is dependent on nature and its services.

Australia's koalas are increasingly threatened by wildfires, land-clearing, drought and disease

Climate change and habitat degradation will cause extinctions that cascade through communities of animals and plants and drive dramatic biodiversity loss, according to new research published on Friday.

The study, in the journal Science Advances, found that chain-reaction extinctions are unavoidable and predicted Earth’s ecosystems will see average biodiversity loss of between six and 10 percent by 2050, depending on different carbon emissions scenarios. 

By 2100, losses of animals and plants could rise to as much as 27 percent, they found in their research that used virtual Earths to map out thousands of food webs.

The authors said their modelling suggested that the biggest changes will come before mid-century, predicting “the bleakest time for natural communities might be imminent and that the next few decades will be decisive for the future of global biodiversity”.

With life on Earth under threat from human destruction, overexploitation and pollution, scientists have warned that a million species are facing extinction in what many fear heralds the planet’s sixth mass extinction event.

Climate change is expected to dramatically accelerate the losses, with impacts of warming ranging from the effects of extreme weather, to changes in behaviour and habitat.

But authors of the new study said previous modelling has not included estimates for co-extinctions, based on the “cascading effect” of losses on interdependent species.

The researchers in Australia and Europe built hundreds of virtual Earths each populated with more than 33,000 vertebrate species in thousands of food webs across the planet –- “massive computer latticeworks of ‘who eats whom’,” said co-author Corey Bradshaw, a professor at Flinders University.

They then simulated different climate change scenarios and projections of habitat degradation — like deforestation — to predict local biodiversity loss, the proportion of animals lost in a given area.

– ‘Life support’ –

The virtual worlds allowed researchers to watch as species moved around and adapted to new environmental conditions and the implications of individual extinctions across food webs.

They found that climate change would be responsible for the greatest proportion of extinction events.

“If you look out your window in 87 years, on average you’ll see nearly 30 percent fewer animal species than you do today based on the business-as-usual climate scenario,” Bradshaw told AFP.

The study found the greatest threat was in places with the greatest biodiversity — 36 highly-vulnerable areas containing the most unique species. 

“This is because the erosion of species-rich food webs makes biological communities more susceptible to future shocks,” said Bradshaw, adding it was “a case of the rich losing their riches the fastest.” 

The research comes as a UN summit in Montreal attempts to seal a historic “peace pact with nature” and end the rampant destruction.  

Global efforts to curb global warming have often eclipsed efforts to tackle the devastation being wrought on nature, but experts have increasingly warned that the two crises are inextricably linked.  

“In many ways, biodiversity loss from climate change is far more serious than what climate change will do to human societies, because biodiversity is the very fabric of the Earth’s life-support system that makes our lives possible,” said Bradshaw.  

“The imperative of massive and rapid emissions-reduction policies is made much more urgent knowing this.”

A Colombian soldier stands guard at Gorgona Island off the Colombian Pacific coast in December 2022

Just off Colombia’s Pacific coast lies a dot of an island that is postcard perfect: mountains, lush jungle, pristine beaches, humpback whales and other animals that find the place irresistible.

Enter the Colombian military, which is building a US-financed coast guard station on Gorgona Island, and a spat erupts — one that is challenging Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, to make good on promises to fight climate change and be an environmental champion.

Environmental groups filed a class action lawsuit last month asking a judge to suspend construction of the base, which the navy says will help it fight drug trafficking and other crime.

“But even better would be for Dr Petro to fulfill the promises he made as a candidate,” said Jorge Robledo, a former senator serving as spokesman for the conservation groups who filed the suit.

“If the president, who is commander in chief of the armed forces, wants to end this project he can do it in a second,” said Robledo.

He said Petro, who took office in August, has to fulfill the ambitious conservation and climate change program he campaigned on.

The navy says the coast guard base will give it a tactical advantage in fighting drug trafficking and environmental crimes like poaching.

“If the project is not carried out, the ones who come out winning are the criminals,” coast guard commander Javier Bermudez told AFP.

Gorgona — the name comes from the snake-haired gorgons of Greek mythology — is situated in a maritime corridor used to smuggle drugs northward.

Bermudez said three environmental impact studies have been done to assess the risk posed by the base.

-Fragile ecosystem –

Some say the protected nature reserve set up on and around Gorgona Island is as rich in biodiversity as the Galapagos islands off the coast of Ecuador.

Colombians know it for a darker reason, however: it used to house a prison where prisoners deemed to be the most dangerous were sent and tortured. That facility operated from the 1960s until 1984.

These days the island 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the southwestern coast of Colombia is better known for its tourists, who are lured by its coral reefs, exotic fauna and thick forests.

Felipe Guhl, a biologist at the University of the Andes, said the base construction work will surely harm the island, which is only 11 kilometers long and four kilometers wide.

He called Gorgona a fragile biological sanctuary where any kind of human intervention will hurt the coral reefs, fish and animals. 

In 2015 the government agency that grants environmental certification approved construction of the base, which will feature a 132 meter dock, a radar installation and housing for military personnel.

The project is receiving financing from the United States, which is the main partner of Colombia — the world’s top cocaine producer — in fighting drug trafficking.

The navy says that in waters near the island a variety of crimes are committed in addition to drug smuggling: contraband, illegal fishing, deforestation, poaching, sea pollution and others.

“Why build a base on the island when it could just as well be on the coast?” Guhl asked. “A 60-kilometer distance from the island to land should not make much of a distance what with the technology that we have today” when it comes to surveillance, he said.

– ‘Environmental authority’ –

Some 6,400 tourists visit the island every year, and have to make an awkward disembarkation because it has no dock at present, said Daniel Agudelo, who runs the nature parks on Gorgona and says the base project is feasible.

Commander Bermudez of the coast guard said the base is needed to fight crime.

“We cannot have protected areas made out of paper. We need the work of police to exercise that environmental authority,” he said.

But Guhl said the project must be halted because “from a biological standpoint, Gorgona Island is a treasure.” 

A Colombian soldier stands guard at Gorgona Island off the Colombian Pacific coast in December 2022

Just off Colombia’s Pacific coast lies a dot of an island that is postcard perfect: mountains, lush jungle, pristine beaches, humpback whales and other animals that find the place irresistible.

Enter the Colombian military, which is building a US-financed coast guard station on Gorgona Island, and a spat is served up — one that is challenging Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, to make good on promises to fight climate change and be an environmental champion.

Environmental groups filed a class action lawsuit last month asking a judge to suspend construction of the base, which the navy says will help it fight drug trafficking and other crime.

“But even better would be for Dr Petro to fulfill the promises he made as a candidate,” said Jorge Robledo, a former senator serving as spokesman for the conservation groups who filed the suit.

“If the president, who is commander in chief of the armed forces, wants to end this project he can do it in a second,” said Robledo.

He said Petro, who took office in August, has to fulfill the ambitious conservation and climate change program he campaigned on.

The navy says the coast guard base will give it a tactical advantage in fighting drug trafficking and environmental crimes like poaching.

“If the project is not carried out, the ones who come out winning are the criminals,” coast guard commander Javier Bermudez told AFP.

Gorgona — the name comes from the snake-haired gorgons of Greek mythology — is situated in a maritime corridor used to smuggle drugs northward.

Bermudez said three environmental impact studies have been done to assess the risk posed by the base.

-Fragile ecosystem –

Some say the protected nature reserve set up on and around Gorgona Island is as rich in biodiversity as the Galapagos islands off the coast of Ecuador.

Colombians know it for a darker reason, however: it used to house a prison where prisoners deemed to be the most dangerous were sent and tortured. That facility operated from the 1960s until 1984.

These days the island 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the southwestern coast of Colombia is better known for its tourists, who are lured by its coral reefs, exotic fauna and lush forests.

Felipe Gulh, a biologist at the University of the Andes, said the base construction work will surely harm the island, which is only 11 kilometers long and four kilometers wide.

He called Gorgona a fragile biological sanctuary where any kind of human intervention will hurt the coral reefs, fish and animals. 

In 2015 the government agency that grants environmental certification approved construction of the base, which will feature a 132 meter dock, a radar installation and housing for military personnel.

The project is receiving financing from the United States, which is the main partner of Colombia — the world’s top cocaine producer — in fighting drug trafficking.

The navy says that in waters near the island a variety of crimes are committed in addition to drug smuggling: contraband, illegal fishing, deforestation, poaching, sea pollution and others.

“Why build a base on the island when it could just as well be on the coast?” Gulh asked. “A 60 kilometer distance from the island to land should not make much of a distance what with the technology that we have today” when it comes to surveillance, he said.

– ‘Environmental authority’ –

Some 6,400 tourists visit the island every year, and have to make an awkward disembarkation because it has no dock at present, said Daniel Agudelo, who runs the nature parks on Gorgona and says the base project is feasible.

Commander Bermudez of the coast guard said the base is needed to fight crime.

“We cannot have protected areas made out of paper. We need the work of police to exercise that environmental authority,” he said.

Guhl said the project must be halted because “from a biological standpoint, Gorgona Island is a treasure.” 

'Let the good times roll,' he tweeted after he completed the deal

Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has made radical changes that have sparked fears for the future of the platform, from firing half the staff to restoring ex-president Donald Trump’s account and suspending those of several journalists.

AFP looks back at a rollercoaster two months at the Silicon Valley giant.

– Enter Elon –

Musk, the world’s second-richest richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, buys Twitter in late October for $44 billion after months of on-off negotiations.

“Let the good times roll,” he tweets after the deal is sealed on October 28. He becomes the sole director of the company after dissolving its corporate board.

– ‘Content moderation council’ –

In one of his first moves, the self-declared free speech absolutist announces he will form a “content moderation council”, in a nod to concerns that Twitter could become a free-for-all platform for disinformation and hate speech.

– Monthly charge –

On November 1, Musk announces the site will charge $8 per month to verify the accounts of celebrities and companies — a service that used to be free. But the November 6 launch of the Twitter Blue subscription plan goes awry. Musk is forced to suspend the move after an embarrassing rash of fake accounts alarm advertisers.

– Brands step back –

Top global companies, including General Mills and Volkswagen, suspend their advertising on Twitter on November 3 as they monitor the new direction the company will take.

– Massive layoffs –

On November 4, half of Twitter’s 7,500-strong staff are made redundant, sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley.

Musk tweets that “unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”.

– Regulator’s ‘concern’-

The chaos draws a rare warning on November 10 from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US authority that oversees consumer safety.

“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” says an FTC spokesperson.

– Ultimatum to staff –

Musk delivers an ultimatum to Twitter staff on November 16, asking them to choose between being “extremely hardcore” and working long hours, or losing their jobs. He gives them a day to decide.

Large numbers of staff quit.

– Trump reinstated –

Musk reinstates the account of banned former president Donald Trump after conducting a poll of users, a narrow majority of whom support the move. 

A few days later he announces an “amnesty” for all banned Twitter accounts.

– ‘War’ with Apple – 

On November 29, Musk tweets that he is going “to war’ with Apple, claiming it has threatened to oust Twitter from its App Store. After meeting with Apple boss Tim Cook he later says the clash was a misunderstanding.

– Covid controversy  –

In late November, Twitter says it is no longer enforcing a policy of combatting Covid-19 disinformation. Musk had fiercely opposed Covid restrictions. Days later he is rapped by the White House for calling for President Joe Biden’s chief Covid adviser Anthony Fauci to be prosecuted.

– Kanye suspended –

Musk revises his promises of unfettered free speech after rapper Kanye West tweets a picture that appears to show a swastika interlaced with a Star of David. His account is suspended for “incitement to violence”.

– Twitter Blue take two –

In mid-December Musk relaunches Twitter Blue. This time, Twitter conducts a review of the account before giving it the coveted blue check mark.

– Journalists’ accounts suspended –

On December 15, Twitter suspends the accounts of more than a half-dozen journalists, including reporters from CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Musk accuses them of endangering his family through their reporting on Twitter’s shutdown of an account that tracked flights of his private jet. 

Media outlets criticise the move and says they are re-evaluating their use of Twitter.

EU threatens to sanction Twitter.

A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket carrying the Franco-US satellite before its liftoff on a mission to survey the Earth's water

A satellite lifted off Friday from California on a mission to survey nearly all bodies of water on Earth, offering key insights on how they influence or are impacted by climate change.

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a billion-dollar project jointly developed by NASA and France’s space agency CNES, took off at 1146 GMT atop a SpaceX rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

According to a statement from NASA, it will start collecting scientific data in about six months after undergoing checks and calibrations.

“SWOT will bring us a revolutionary advance in our understanding of how water moves around our planet,” said Karen St. Germain, NASA’s Earth Science Division director, ahead of the launch.

“We will be able to see detail in eddies and currents and circulation in the oceans that we have never been able to see before.”

She said this would help predict floods in areas with too much water, and manage water in regions prone to drought.

Selma Cherchali, of the French space agency CNES, told a press conference on Tuesday that the satellite represents a “revolution in hydrology. We are aiming to provide fine-scale observations ten times better than the current technology.”

From a height of 890 kilometers (550 miles), SWOT will have the clearest view yet of the world’s oceans, allowing it to track the rise in sea levels, as well as rivers and lakes.

The satellite will measure the height of water in freshwater bodies and the ocean on more than 90 percent of Earth’s surface — which it will track in its entirety at least once every 21 days.

Researchers will be able to get data on millions of lakes, rather than the few thousands currently visible from space.

NASA is currently operating some 25 space missions observing Earth, and SWOT will be like “putting on glasses. We will have a crisp picture,” said St. Germain.

– Understanding climate change –

The satellite will help scientists better understand climate change, and factors such as how much more heat and carbon dioxide oceans can absorb.

“We know with climate change that Earth’s water cycle is accelerating. What this means is that some locations have too much water, others don’t have enough,” said Benjamin Hamlington, a NASA research scientist.

“We’re seeing more extreme droughts, more extreme floods, precipitation patterns are changing, becoming more volatile. So it’s really important that we try to understand exactly what is happening.”

The mission is meant to last for three and a half years, but could be extended until five years, or even more, said SWOT’s project head at CNES, Thierry Lafon.

The breakthrough technology at the heart of the satellite mission is called KaRin, a Ka-band radar interferometer, which Lafon described as “the flagship for a new generation of altimeters in space.”

The radar sends down a signal which is reflected back by the water surface. This echo is received by two antennas, resulting in two sets of data providing high accuracy for water detection and resolution.

The US and French space agencies have worked together in the field for more than 30 years. A previous satellite developed by the partners, TOPEX/Poseidon, improved understanding of ocean circulation and its effect on global climate.

It also aided the forecast of the 1997-1998 El Nino weather phenomenon.

A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket carrying the Franco-US satellite before its liftoff on a mission to survey the Earth's water

A satellite lifted off Friday from California on a mission to survey nearly all bodies of water on Earth, offering key insights on how they influence or are impacted by climate change.

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a billion-dollar project jointly developed by NASA and France’s space agency CNES, took off at 1146 GMT atop a SpaceX rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

According to a statement from NASA, it will start collecting scientific data in about six months after undergoing checks and calibrations.

“SWOT will bring us a revolutionary advance in our understanding of how water moves around our planet,” said Karen St. Germain, NASA’s Earth Science Division director, ahead of the launch.

“We will be able to see detail in eddies and currents and circulation in the oceans that we have never been able to see before.”

She said this would help predict floods in areas with too much water, and manage water in regions prone to drought.

Selma Cherchali, of the French space agency CNES, told a press conference on Tuesday that the satellite represents a “revolution in hydrology. We are aiming to provide fine-scale observations ten times better than the current technology.”

From a height of 890 kilometers (550 miles), SWOT will have the clearest view yet of the world’s oceans, allowing it to track the rise in sea levels, as well as rivers and lakes.

Researchers will be able to get data on millions of lakes, rather than the few thousands currently visible from space.

“We know with climate change that Earth’s water cycle is accelerating. What this means is that some locations have too much water, others don’t have enough,” said Benjamin Hamlington, a NASA research scientist.

“We’re seeing more extreme droughts, more extreme floods, precipitation patterns are changing, becoming more volatile. So it’s really important that we try to understand exactly what is happening.”

The mission is meant to last for three and a half years, but could be extended until five years, or even more, said SWOT’s project head at CNES, Thierry Lafon.

The US and French space agencies have worked together in the field for more than 30 years. A previous satellite developed by the partners, TOPEX/Poseidon, improved understanding of ocean circulation and its effect on global climate.

A Colombian soldier stands guard at Gorgona Island off the Colombian Pacific coast in December 2022

Just off Colombia’s Pacific coast lies a dot of an island that is postcard perfect: mountains, lush jungle, pristine beaches and humpback whales and other critters that find the place irresistible.

Enter the Colombian military, which is building a US-financed coast guard station here on Gorgona Island, and a spat is served up  — one that is challenging Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, to make good on promises to fight climate change and be an environmental champion.

Environmental groups filed a class action lawsuit last month asking a judge to suspend construction of the coast guard base, which the navy says will help it fight drug trafficking and other crime.

“But even better would be for Dr Petro to fulfill the promises he made as a candidate,” said Jorge Robledo, a former senator serving as spokesman for the conservation groups who filed the suit.

“If the president, who is commander in chief of the armed forces, wants to end this project he can do it in a second,” said Robledo.

He said Petro, who took office in August, has to fulfill the ambitious conservation and climate change program he campaigned on.

The navy says the coast guard base will give it a tactical advantage in fighting drug trafficking and environmental crimes like poaching.

“If the project is not carried out, the ones who come out winning are the criminals,” coast guard commander Javier Bermudez told AFP.

Gorgona — the name comes from the snake-haired gorgons of Greek mythology — is situated in a maritime corridor used to smuggle drugs northward.

Bermudez said three environmental impact studies have been done to assess the risk posed by the base.

-Fragile ecosystem –

Some say the protected nature reserve set up on and around Gorgona Island is as rich in biodiversity as the Galapagos islands off the coast of Ecuador.

Colombians know it for a darker reason, however: it used to house a prison where prisoners deemed to be the most dangerous were sent and tortured. That facility operated from the 1960s until 1984.

These days the island 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the southwestern coast of Colombia is better known for its tourists, who are lured by its coral reefs, exotic fauna and lush forests.

Felipe Gulh, a biologist at the University of the Andes, said the base construction work will surely harm the island, which is only 11 kilometers long and four kilometers wide.

He called Gorgona a fragile biological sanctuary where any kind of human intervention will hurt the coral reefs, fish and animals. 

In 2015 the government agency that grants environmental certification approved construction of the base, which will feature a 132 meter dock, a radar installation and housing for military personnel.

The project is receiving financing form the Untied States, which is the main partner of Colombia — the world’s top cocaine producer — in fighting drug trafficking.

The navy says that in waters near the island a variety of crimes are committed in addition to drug smuggling: contraband, illegal fishing, deforestation, poaching, sea pollution and others.

“Why build a base on the island when it could just as well be on the coast?” Gulh asked. “A 60 kilometer distance from the island to land should not make much of a distance what with the technology that we have today” when it comes to surveillance, he said.

– ‘Environmental authority’ –

Some 6,400 tourists visit the island every year, and have to make an awkward disembarkation because it has no dock at present, said Daniel Agudelo, who runs the nature parks on Gorgona and says the base project is feasible.

Commander Bermudez of the coast guard said the base is needed to fight crime.

“We cannot have protected areas made out of paper. We need the work of police to exercise that environmental authority,” he said.

Guhl said the project must be halted because “from a biological standpoint, Gorgona Island is a treasure.”