NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: COLOMBIA'S DRUG WAR 2/2

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: COLOMBIA'S DRUG WAR PART 2 OF 2

4-"The incidence of clandestine drug laboratories has grown dramatically in the past 10 years. For example, in Fiscal Year 1992, the DEA’s National Clandestine Laboratory Cleanup Program funded approximately 400 removal actions and by fiscal year 2001, the DEA Program funded more than 6,400 removal actions."

5-"From December 2000 to February 2001, US-backed antidrug drives resulted in the destruction of more than 29,000 hectares of coca fields (enough to produce 200-250 tons of cocaine annually)."

6-In July 2000, the Colombian government agreed to work with the UN Drug Control Program on research into the use of a fungicide called fusarium oxysporum. Tests have yet to show that use of the fungus is feasible, and methods to produce the fungicide in sufficient quantities as well as a delivery mechanism have yet to be developed.

7-"Colombia's forests account for approximately 49 percent, or 131 million acres, of the country's total land mass (Central Intelligence Agency, 88). Encompassing a mere 0.8 percent of the world's land mass, Colombia's total forest coverage accounts for 10 percent of the earth's biodiversity. Behind Brazil, the country is considered the most biodiverse in the world in terms of species per unit of area." Yet, "Between 1.5 to 2.2 million acres are deforested each year and, at this rate, Colombia's woodlands will be depleted in forty years. Such deforestation has increased the rate of extinction for many plant and animal species, many of which are endemic to the country. Furthermore, the social and economic fabrics of indigenous peoples who inhabit the forests are rapidly being destroyed."