00:00snow-capped Andes Mountains, mangroves along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts,
00:09semi-arid deserts, and vast wetlands. You can see it all here in Colombia, from the
00:17high-altitude Andean ecosystem, the Paramos, to the dense vegetation of the
00:23Amazon rainforest. These vastly contrasting landscapes combine to make
00:30Colombia the second most biodiverse country in the world.
00:36According to the World Wildlife Fund, Colombia has more bird, amphibian,
00:42butterfly, and frog species than anywhere else on our planet.
00:50It has the first spot on the number of amphibians, fourth in mammals, and second
00:57in birds. All those numbers in the variety of animals concentrated in this
01:02small area. That is what places us in the top list of countries with the most
01:08biodiversity.
01:12This biodiversity has been threatened by decades of agricultural expansion,
01:18illegal deforestation, and growing urbanization. Colombia is reportedly
01:24losing around 1,500 square kilometers of forests annually. That's an area around
01:3125 times the size of Manhattan. More than half the loss is Amazon rainforest.
01:39Colombia has tried to slow the devastation by putting more than 30% of
01:44its territory under federal protection. A Colombian ecologist says these regions
01:51are like islands that should be connected by ecological corridors that allow the
01:56movement of species between them.
02:00If you think about climate change, the environment becomes inadequate for
02:04certain species that need to move. And if you have this protected area surrounded
02:10by clearings, these species are condemned to extinction. So the next step is
02:16thinking about the connectivity of these areas. These and many other issues
02:21surrounding biodiversity conservation and climate action is what we can expect
02:26at this year's United Nations Biodiversity Conference, hosted this year
02:30in Cali, Colombia.
02:34The national government is rolling out the red carpet to receive an estimated
02:3812,000 people, including citizens, experts, and government officials from
02:44around the world. As the summit's logo, Colombia has chosen a rare native flower,
02:50the Inidida, that can only be found in Colombia. It is resilient, capable of
02:56surviving both floods and droughts, a living symbol of hope as the world
03:03grapples with the effects of climate change, pollution, and loss of
03:07biodiversity.
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