News from 2019-02-13 / KfW Development Bank
For the 250th birthday of Alexander von Humboldt – German President Steinmeier visits Colombia
On 11 February, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier set off on his first South American trip to Colombia and Ecuador. The trip marks the 250th birthday of the German scholar Alexander von Humboldt and his travels in Latin America 220 years ago.
At the start of his trip, Steinmeier visited the marine nature reserve "Corales del Rosario y de San Bernardo", a unique underwater park complete with coral reefs, mangrove forests, countless species of marine fauna, including over 170 species of fish, molluscs, crustaceans, corals and sponges. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, FC has supported the National Natural Parks of Colombia – Parques Nacionales Naturales (PNN) – since 2014. In the first couple of years, the focus was on the Andes and the Caribbean; since 2018 it has moved to the Pacific and Southeast Andes. The "Corales del Rosario y de San Bernardo" national park is a good 20 km southeast of Cartagena. As of this year, measures are being implemented here to improve (eco) tourism planning, to promote economic alternatives for fishermen and to provide better equipment and to improve supervision by the park management (boats, buoys, administrative building).
The park faces growing challenges due to flourishing tourism and overfishing. Mangrove forests and coral reefs have been destroyed and the water at the shore is polluted by wastewater. The German president and his delegation were able to use one of the boats newly acquired by the park management and see for themselves the sorry state of the mangrove forests from the water.
Humboldt – a universal scholar who studied ecology
Humboldt's curiosity and desire to understand "the interaction of all natural forces" motivated his Latin American travels 220 years ago. He and his fellow explorers carried out measurements, drew up maps and collected not only plants and animal hides, but also stones and minerals. Steinmeier: "The 250th birthday of Alexander von Humboldt this year presents a welcome opportunity for me to honour the long and close links between Germany and Latin America and give them new impetus. Humboldt's understanding of the natural environment as a sphere worthy of protection, which we humans need more than it needs us, still holds true today." The German President drew parallels between the explorer of yesteryear and the tasks we face in the globalised world today: "I would even go as far as to say that Humbold would formulate his warning today – 200 years later – just as urgently if not more so. Whether it is plastic debris in our seas and oceans or the consequences of global climate change, no individual country can tackle these huge challenges single-handed. We need to join forces globally."
Four former winners of the "Jugend forscht" (literally: youth researches) competition accompanied the German President. They are interested in the pollution of the world's seas and oceans, particularly by plastic and microplastics. This aspect plays a role in the FC project. Felix Klauda, head of the KfW's Bogotá office says: "Microplastic and floating plastic waste is polluting ecosystems and food chains in Colombia. An important part of our work is to support the national parks and local communities in dealing with this problem."
The German president met Colombian president Duque Márquez in Bogotá for talks and visited a camp for Venezuelan refugees. In addition, Steinmeier also met the three institutions set up to implement the historic peace agreement signed in 2016 with the guerilla group FARC. His next stop is Ecuador's capital city of Quito.
