<\/p>\n Jani Silva, 63, gets off a boat, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Jani Silva, 63, gets off a boat, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Colombia says it protects activists through its National Protection Unit, which provides bodyguards and other security measures. Officials also point to recent court rulings recognizing the rights of nature and stronger environmental oversight as signs of progress<\/a>.<\/p>\n Silva, 63, now lives under guard in Puerto Asis, a river town near the Ecuador border. She has had four full-time bodyguards for 12 years provided by the National Protection Unit. Yet the threats have not pushed her from her role at ADISPA, the farming association that manages the Amazon Pearl reserve she previously lived on and has worked to protect.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a calling to serve,\u201d Silva said. \u201cI feel like I am needed \u2026 there is still so much to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Colombia\u2019s ministries of Interior, National Defense and Environment did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n About 15,000 people nationwide receive protection from the NPU, the Interior Ministry said in a 2024 report. They include environmental and human rights defenders, journalists, local officials, union leaders and others facing threats, though watchdog groups say protections often fall short in rural conflict zones.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rainbows cross the Putumayo River on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Rainbows cross the Putumayo River on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Community buffer stands in a violent corridor<\/p>\n The Amazon Pearl is home to roughly 800 families who have spent decades trying to keep out oil drilling, deforestation<\/a>, illicit crops and the armed groups that enforce them. Silva describes the community-run reserve, about 30 minutes by boat down the Putumayo from Puerto Asis, as \u201ca beautiful land \u2026 almost blessed, for its biodiversity, forests and rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n The preserve\u2019s 227 square kilometers (87 square miles) host reforestation projects, programs to protect wetlands and forest threatened by oil exploration and efforts to promote agroecology. The farming association has community beekeeping projects to support pollination and generate income, organizes community patrols, supports small sustainable farming and has carried out major restoration, including cultivating more than 120,000 native seedlings to rebuild degraded riverbanks and forest corridors.<\/p>\n Silva has been a main voice challenging oil operations inside the reserve. As president of ADISPA, she documented spills, deforestation and road-building tied to Bogota-based oil company GeoPark\u2019s Platanillo<\/a> block and pushed environmental regulators to investigate. <\/p>\n Advocates say those complaints, along with ADISPA\u2019s efforts to keep new drilling and mining out, have angered armed groups that profit from mining and oil activity in the region.<\/p>\n GeoPark said it complies with Colombian environmental and human-rights regulations and has not received environmental sanctions since operations began in 2009. <\/p>\n The company maintains formal dialogue with local communities, including Silva, and \u201ccategorically rejects\u201d threats or links to armed groups and its activities require environmental licenses and undergo regular inspections, GeoPark said in a written statement to the AP. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Community members open an apiary on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Community members open an apiary on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n A person extracts honey from bees on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)\n <\/p>\n A person extracts honey from bees on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n A bee approaches an aloe vera flower, part of the crops of one of the community’s sustainable projects, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)\n <\/p>\n A bee approaches an aloe vera flower, part of the crops of one of the community’s sustainable projects, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ruben Pastrana poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Ruben Pastrana poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Rub\u00e9n Pastrana, 32, runs one of the Pearl\u2019s beekeeping projects in the riverbank community of San Salvador, where ADISPA works with children using native stingless bees to teach biodiversity and forest conservation. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re very gentle,\u201d he said of the bees, and their calm nature lets children learn without fear.<\/p>\n More than 600 families now take part in conservation and agroecology projects, many launched through community initiative.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first project was started on our own initiative,\u201d Silva said. \u201cWe started setting up nurseries at our homes \u2026 and reforesting the riverbank.\u201d<\/p>\n Women exchanged native seeds and organized replanting drives, and the community agreed to temporary hunting bans after seeing pregnant armadillos killed \u2014 a move Silva said allowed wildlife to recover. Families now map their plots to balance production with conservation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A girl looks out the window at the Amazon Pearl community farming project on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n A girl looks out the window at the Amazon Pearl community farming project on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Border Commandos control the territory<\/p>\n Armed groups known locally as Comandos de la Frontera, or Border Commandos, operate throughout this stretch of Putumayo, controlling territory, river traffic and parts of the local economy. <\/p>\n The Commandos emerged after Colombia\u2019s 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC<\/a>, the Marxist guerrilla army whose demobilization ended a half-century conflict but left power vacuums across the Amazon and Pacific regions. In places like Putumayo, those gaps were quickly filled by FARC dissidents, former paramilitaries and other criminal networks.<\/p>\n The Commandos enforce control through extortion, illegal taxation and by regulating, or profiting from, coca cultivation, clandestine mining and key river routes. Residents say the group forces some communities to perform unpaid labor or face fines, further eroding livelihoods in an area where most families rely on tending their farms. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A small coca crop is visible on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n A small coca crop is visible on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n The AP saw illegal coca growing near the beekeeping project via drone imagery.<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch<\/a> on Friday said armed groups in Putumayo have tightened their control over daily life and committed serious abuses against civilians including forced displacement, restricting movement and targeting local leaders. <\/p>\n Andrew Miller, head of advocacy at the U.S.-based advocacy group Amazon Watch, said Colombian authorities must go beyond providing bodyguards and prosecute those behind threats and attacks on defenders.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ruben Pastrana explains to the group about sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Ruben Pastrana explains to the group about sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Developing the next generation<\/p>\n Pastrana, from the beekeeping project, said Silva\u2019s long-term vision has nurtured new leaders and guided young people, helping them develop the grounding to resist recruitment by armed groups.<\/p>\n Silva\u2019s daughter, Anggie Miramar Silva, is part of ADISPA\u2019s technical team. The 27-year-old grew up inside the reserve\u2019s community process and watched her mother move constantly between meetings, workshops and patrols, pushing others to defend the land. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anggie Miramar poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Anggie Miramar poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n She admires that resolve, even as she lives with the same fear that trails her mother. While people often suggest she might one day take her mother\u2019s place, she is not convinced. <\/p>\n \u201cMy mother\u2019s work is extremely hard,\u201d Miramar said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I would be willing to sacrifice everything she has.\u201d<\/p>\n Jani Silva knows the risks. But stopping doesn\u2019t feel like an option.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to continue defending the future,\u201d she said, \u201cand we need more and more people to join this cause.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A woman organizes the crops of one of the community\u2019s sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n A woman organizes the crops of one of the community\u2019s sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PUERTO ASIS, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Jani Silva sits inside the wooden house she built on the banks of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[40512,56353,100,23912,13642,3477,11989,123626,27,18,440,58435,24500,3334,59858,19,17,11992,790,123628,123627,133,13647,6921,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-231610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-activism","9":"tag-andrew-miller","10":"tag-animals","11":"tag-ap-top-news","12":"tag-central-america","13":"tag-climate-and-environment","14":"tag-colombia","15":"tag-colombia-government","16":"tag-courts","17":"tag-eire","18":"tag-environment","19":"tag-environmental-conservation","20":"tag-forests","21":"tag-general-news","22":"tag-government-regulations","23":"tag-ie","24":"tag-ireland","25":"tag-latin-america","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-revolutionary-armed-forces-of-colombia","28":"tag-rubn-pastrana","29":"tag-science","30":"tag-south-america","31":"tag-waterways","32":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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