Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: UN Oversees Manual Eradication of Coca Crops

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BOGOTA, Jan 30 2006 (IPS) - The United Nations will send 11 people to observe the manual eradication of 4,600 hectares of coca fields in La Macarena nature reserve, located in the central Colombian department of Meta. The objective “is to quantify the areas” where this illegal drug crop is eradicated, “and report on the development of the operation,” explained Sandro Calvani, representative in Colombia of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

The government began this effort on Jan. 17 — to last three months — in reaction to environmentalists' complaints about aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide in the nature parks.

Researcher Ricardo Vargas told Tierramérica that manual eradication of coca in La Macarena is an isolated measure and too short-term to respond to the complex problems in the area.