Images of deforestation in the Serranía de Chiribiquete National Natural Park.
Photo: FCDS
The American actor and film producer, Leonado DiCaprio, sent a message through his Instagram account to the Congress of the Republic of Colombia: he asks that the “deforestation-free livestock” project be approved in the fourth and final debate, which is at risk of being archived.
“About 3 million hectares in the Colombian Amazon have been destroyed in the last 7 years. To stop that destruction, the Colombian Congress has the opportunity to take the historic step to protect the Amazon by passing the deforestation-free livestock traceability bill,” DiCaprio wrote in his post.
The project, authored by Juan Carlos Losada, representative to the Chamber for the Liberal Party, seeks to create a registration and traceability system for cattle in Colombia, in order to prevent them from passing through areas during their breeding and fattening process. deforested.
“If lawmakers pass this bill, Colombia will be preventing the trade of commodities from deforested areas, including those that are home to a high level of biodiversity,” DiCaprio added.
The bill has been approved in three debates, two in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate of the Republic. Although it only needs one debate in the Senate plenary to be approved, it has already been in process for two terms, so if it is not scheduled for discussion before June 20, it will be archived and must begin its process again in the next term.
As part of his call, DiCaprio said that “the deforestation-free livestock traceability bill would mean a tremendous step forward in protecting vital places like Chiribiquete National Park, a World Heritage Site, rich in biodiversity and home to dozens of indigenous groups, currently threatened by deforestation. As one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, the Colombian Congress is about to make history.”
Losada, author of the project, reacted to the actor’s publication by saying that “DiCaprio’s support is a clear example of the importance for the country of creating instruments so that the already existing traceability of cattle serves as a mechanism to fight against deforestation” and reiterated the call to the senators in charge of the legislative agenda to schedule the discussion of this project before June 20.
