COUNTER-INSURGENT FORESTS: The Militarization of Conservation in the AMEM region, Colombia

Abstract

Following the peace agreement signed between the FARC-EP guerrillas and the Colombian Government in 2016, deforestation in Colombia has increased exponentially. This increase was particularly significant in the AMEM (Area Manejo Especial de la Macarena) region. The Colombian government decided to launch a military campaign, called Artemisa, in April 2019 to combat the increase in deforestation in National Natural Parks. This policy is the result of the definition, for the first time in Colombian national history, of environmental degradation as a national and international security priority. Its implementation involves the continuation of violent actions against the local population stigmatized and criminalized as responsible for deforestation in the AMEM region. But it does not affect large landowners, whose capital finances deforestation in the region. This thesis examines the political implications of the implementation of this military campaign, in terms of state control of the territory.