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Largely unexplored rainforest slated to be leveled for gold mining in Colombia Jeremy Hance mongabay.com August 13, 2009
Already the forest has been reduced to 10 percent of its original 2.5 million acres due to agriculture, small-scale mining, and other human impacts. Now, the Colombian government has granted large concessions to AngloGold Ashanti, a gold mining company out of South Africa which has been criticized by the Human Rights Watch for allegedly aligning itself with locally armed gangs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The only survey done on the Serrania de San Lucas massif was conducted by ProAves from 1999-2001. The organization recorded 374 bird species, eleven of which are considered threatened by the IUCN, including the Critically Endangered blue-knobbed currasow (see list at the end of the article).
The expedition never went above 1,400 meters (4,500 feet) and their reports states that a survey at higher altitudes is "urgently required". Due to their findings, the massif was declared an Important Bird Area (IBA) in 2005 and ProAves has suggested that the massif be granted official protection as a national park. "Unfortunately, the Colombian government does not agree on the establishment of an effective protected area for the region, preferring a 'Forest Reserve' that permits mining of the entire area," ProAves writes. According to the organization, industrial mining will have a direct impact on the local people, as well as the species.
In a report, the World Wildlife Fund called the Serranía de San Lucas the most noteworthy tropical forest in the Magdalena-Urabia moist forest region of northern Colombia. Endangered birds of the Serranía de San Lucas: Critcally Endangered: Blue-knobbed Curassow Crax alberti Endangered: White-mantled Barbet Capito hypoleucus carrikeri Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia castaneiventris Recurve-billed Bushbird Clytoctantes alixi Antioquia Bristle-Tyrant Phylloscartes lanyoni Vulnerable Northern Screamer Chauna chavaria Parker’s Antbird Cercomacra parker Near Threatened Plumbeous Hawk Leucopternis plumbea Colombian Chachalaca Ortalis Columbiana Wattled Guan Aburria aburri Saffron-headed Parrot Pionopsitta pyrilia Sooty Ant-Tanager Habia gutturalis Large-billed Seed-finch Oryzoborus crassirostris Mammals of the Serranía de San Lucas (due to the nature of the survey, researchers weren’t able to look for bats and rodents): Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Spectacled Bear Tremarctos ornatus Silverybrown Bare-face Tamarin Saguinus leucopus White-fronted Capuchin Monkey Cebus albifron Near Threatened Jaguar Panthera onca Data Deficient Red Brocket Deer Mazama americana Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo Cabassous centralis Not Threatened Colombian Red Howler Monkey Ateles seniculus Kinkajou Potos flavus Northern Tamandua Tamandua mexicana Paca Agouti paca Nine-banded Long-nosed Armadillo Dasypus Novecinctus For more information: Serranía de San Lucas at risk  Spectacled bear in Peru. The bear listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN is also a resident of the Serranía de San Lucas. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Related articles FARC killing Rainforest Indians in Colombia (02/18/2009) Several members of the Awa indigenous community have been killed by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in Nariño, a state bordering Ecuador, reports Human Rights Watch. Photos of new frogs discovered in Colombia 
(02/03/2009) Ten undescribed species of amphibians including nine frog and one salamander have been discovered in the mountains of Colombia, report scientists from Conservation International (CI). The "new" amphibians included spiky-skinned, orange-legged rain frog, three poison dart frogs and three glass frogs, named for their transparent skin. The amphibians were discovered during a recent Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) expedition in the Tacarcuna area of the Darien, near the border with Panama.
Illegal drug use destroys rainforests (11/18/2008) Colombian officials have re-iterated their claim that cocaine use in rich countries is driving deforestation in Colombia, reports The Guardian. Colombian community leader assassinated by agroindustry-backed vigilantes (10/16/2008) A community leader who opposed paramilitary-based seizure and occupation of land for industrial oil palm plantations and cattle ranches in northwest Colombia has been assassinated, reports the Center for International Policy's Colombia Program and the World Rainforest Movement. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
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