It is often argued that the activities mentioned before are not damaging either the culture or biodiversity of a region. Opposing views, like the ICA, claims that planting genetically modified seeds would help into finishing with hunger in some places, because crops could be over-produced, giving a good impact in society, without having to affect indigenous culture. Another opposing point of view could be that it may not seem important for some individuals these specific aspects like the cultural loss. They might think that activities like mining have a positive impact, because it produces a high percentage of the income world-wide, and according to a mining company in Colombia, in this country only the 5% of the water in the country is used for mining purposes. The problem is, this is only statistics coming from legal mining, and does not sum up all the negative impacts of it, and all the contamination and cultural loss it produces. In the case of the modified seeds, the government based their decisions based on an incomplete study made by the ICA, and then concluded that a 300-meter distance between creole and modified crops would be enough to keep them from affecting each other biologically. This is not true, because the pollen can travel through the wind, or even be transported by bees, because they can transport it over 10 kilometers. Cultural loss is important, because that is what we have, it is our history like a community, and indigenous people are trying to keep this ancestral knowledge to know who we are, and where we come from, because they are trying to maintain our ancestors’ traditions and lifestyles.
It might be possible that the opposing views are right, and that activities like fumigating or mining are vital to our daily lives, but what it is true, is that our culture is one of the most important things we have, and links us to our past, our history. The loss of biodiversity could be linked to our culture being forgotten, and our daily life activities could be supporting this cause. All of us should reflect about how we impact the ecosystem; to analyze how we are indirectly linked to cultural loss. Respecting and giving a value to this culture, could contribute and make other people be aware of this situation.
~ Acnur (2015) Perder nuestra tierra es perdernos nosotros, Los indígenas y el desplazamiento forzoso en Colombia [Sitio Web] Recuperado de: http://www.acnur.org/t3/fileadmin/Documentos/RefugiadosAmericas/Colombia/Los_indigenas_y_el_desplazamiento_forzoso_en_Colombia.pdf?view=1
~ María Victoria Duque López (2010) Los indígenas en Colombia: Situación y soluciones [Sitio Web] Recuperado de: http://www.razonpublica.com/index.php/conflicto-drogas-y-paz-temas-30/712-los-indnas-en-colombia-situaci-soluciones.html
~ Survival organization (2010) 34 Colombian tribes face extinction, says UN article [Sitio Web] Recuperado de: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6440
~ Nancy Grey Postero, Leon Zamosc (2006) The Struggle for indigenous rights in Latin America | Chapter 4, Great Britain and USA
~ Jorge Sánchez (2012) El maíz y la vida en la siembra, testimonios indígenas del maíz y la autonomía en México [Sitio Web] Recuperado de: http://www.ecoportal.net/Temas-Especiales/Pueblos-Indigenas/el_maiz_y_la_vida_en_la_siembra_testimonios_indigenas_del_maiz_y_la_autonomia_en_mexico
~ Coorporación grupo Semillas (2010) Derechos humanos sociales en Colombia. La Situación de los trangénicos y los derechos humanos en pueblos indígenas de Colombia [Sitio Web] Recuperado de: www.semillas.org.co
~ S. Germán Villegas (2013) La minería en Colombia en un alto porcentaje es ilegal [Sitio Web] Recuperado de: http://senado.gov.co/sala-de-prensa/opinion-de-senadores/item/16562-la-mineria-en-colombia-en-un-alto-porcentaje-es-ilegal
English Essays