Deforestación y minería ilegal “Una mirada a los mecanismos dirigidos a la protección del medio ambiente en Colombia, a partir de la expedición de la sentencia T-622 de 2016”

Abstract

This research has a very hermeneutical scope, with a qualitative approach for which it was necessary to use analytical and explanatory methods to address the issue related to illegal mining and deforestation practiced in the Atrato River and the Magdalena River, where dredge mechanisms and backhoes are used, as well as highly toxic substances such as mercury. This radically affects the natural resources of these rivers, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court recognized the Atrato river as subject of rights. The implementation of these illegal activities leaves serious environmental consequences on the fauna, flora, and animals of the ecosystems of the different departamentos and territories these rivers cross. The practice of illegal activities threatens the sustainable development of the environment and highly affects the health of the population, which is made up of indigenous people, Afro-descendants, peasants, mestizos, among others; this puts at risk not only this population that settled on the banks of the rivers, but also the natural, ethnic and cultural diversity of Colombia, as well as humid and tropical ecosystems, which also impacts a great variety of environmental national parks.