The Amazon, highland and coastal regions of Colombia have the highest rates of deforestation in the country.
Illicit crops, mining, a lack of state regulation and little environmental protection are contributing to the rise in deforestation in Colombia, which rose 44 percent in 2016. Deforestation in the South American country increased from 306,497 acres in 2015 to 441,322 acres in 2016, Semana Sostenible reported. The Colombian government's goal is to reduce the size of deforested land in the country to 123,552 acres by 2020 — a goal which is becoming increasingly harder to achieve. Omar Franco, representing the Forest and Carbon Monitoring System of the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies, or Ideam, called the rate of deforestation a "worrying figure" during a press conference in Colombia.
Read the rest at teleSUR English