A employee picks roses at a flower farm in Chia, Cundinamarca division, Colombia, on Jan. 29.
Ivan Valencia/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs
disguise caption
toggle caption
Ivan Valencia/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs
CUNDINAMARCA, Colombia — Shopping for flowers on Valentine’s Day is a traditional gesture of affection. However the fantastic thing about these bouquets comes at a price.
In Colombia, excessive within the Andes Mountains, a fragile cloud forest is being chipped away at, fragmented and polluted, say environmentalists within the area — all for the inexperienced leaves that pad out flower bouquets bought primarily in america.
The speed at which timber are being lower down on this fragile ecosystem — house to many species together with sloths, hummingbirds and uncommon orchids, is “getting faster,” based on Patricia Rodríguez, of the environmental group Fundación Étika Verde. “The green foliage industry has become big business here,” she says.
Rodríguez lives within the Andes mountains of Cundinamarca, exterior of the Colombian capital of Bogotá. Greater than 7,500 ft above sea stage, the thick vegetation emerges out of the mist. Cloud forests are among the many most biodiverse locations on Earth, and scientists say Cundinamarca is house to no less than two dozen species discovered nowhere else on the earth.
The foliage used for flower bouquets exported to nations world wide — largely the U.S. — is being grown amid more and more fragmented cloud forest in Cundinamarca, Colombia.
Ruth Sherlock/NPR
disguise caption
toggle caption
Ruth Sherlock/NPR
A cacophony of birdsong comes from the treetops and orchids add splashes of coloration, their petals shiny purple, white and yellow.
A lot of the cloud forest has been stripped over centuries for agriculture and beef manufacturing. And immediately, alongside the fields of cattle, the timber give technique to fields of monoculture crops of eucalyptus, ferns and different inexperienced foliage. Grown below plastic sheets, these white patches dot the panorama.
This yr only for Valentine’s Day, Colombia exported 35,000 tons of flowers and foliage, based on, Ascoflores, the Colombian affiliation for the commerce. Colombian airport authorities say cargo planes revamped 500 flights to export the products. A few of these go all around the world, to Russia, France and the UK. However the overwhelming majority — over 70% — are exported to america.
Colombia has dominated the flower trade for many years. The decrease plains round Bogotá are house to farms rising roses, carnations and different blooms. However, consultants say, rising the foliage for bouquets at these larger Andean altitudes has change into an even bigger enterprise in more moderen years.
Roses are able to be shipped to the U.S. forward of Valentine’s Day, the largest vacation of the yr for fresh-cut flower gross sales, on the Mongibello flower firm in Chia, north of Bogotá, Colombia, on Jan. 31, 2024.
Fernando Vergara/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Fernando Vergara/AP
For a lot of on this rural space with few employment alternatives, it gives a precious livelihood.
“When I started I had nothing,” says Marcos Bernal, 70, who manages a flower and foliage farm. “But with this I have been able to put both my daughters through university.”
The farm Bernal manages has expanded about sixfold lately. A lot of the land getting used for this crop was already in use for different agriculture.
Bernal factors to timber larger up the hillside and says the proprietor of this farm has chosen to guard the patch of forest that exists on their land. Bernal says, nonetheless, some farmers do lower into the cloud forest to make extra space. “They are interested in the money,” he says.
There are legal guidelines in Colombia to guard forests like these, and the federal government has managed to scale back the general ranges of deforestation. However a number of consultants advised NPR, no less than on this space, the legal guidelines are poorly enforced. The native authority and Colombian Atmosphere Ministry didn’t reply to NPR’s request for remark.
“We’re seeing the degradation of a paradise,” says Cato Tafur, an environmental activist who lives along with his household within the cloud forest, surrounded by timber and streams. He says the foliage farms draw on groundwater and pollute rivers with runoff carrying pesticides and fertilizers. But it surely’s exhausting to marketing campaign in opposition to an trade that may be a principal employer for folks within the area.
A flower cultivation base in Cundinamarca, Colombia.
Andres Moreno/Xinhua by way of Getty Photographs
disguise caption
toggle caption
Andres Moreno/Xinhua by way of Getty Photographs
Rodríguez, who together with her group has been campaigning for the safety of the cloud forest, is interesting to native authorities to conduct a examine on the environmental affect of the foliage trade.
She pulls up a wide-shot {photograph} of a mountain rang within the space. It exhibits the cloud forest interrupted by big patches of land that has been stripped naked.
“You can clearly see the problem,” she says. “I want to send the message: Every bouquet you buy for your table, you’re destroying a piece of forest.”
