Hotspots of Wetland Area Loss in Colombia

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet and they are being subjected to heavy pressure by human activities. Changes in wetlands due to human impacts have increased, and it is estimated that half of the global wetland area has been lost during the last century. Documented cases of wetland transformation confirm the trend in Colombia. We used official nationwide wetland maps and land cover maps to quantify the areas within wetlands with non-natural land cover, such as pasture or cropland; and we used spatial analysis tools to identify the regions of the country where greater wetland transformations have occurred. Approximately 24 % of the area of mapped wetlands has land cover types related to intensive rural land use. Pastures and other types of land cover related to raising cattle account for 4 million ha and cover 50 % of the transformed wetland areas. There are 14 different regions where wetland loss is the most critical in Colombia. We analyzed the wetland areas related to raising cattle, agriculture, deforestation, and mining separately and found different spatial patterns for each activity. Hence, different conservation policies should be implemented across the country to account for spatial differences in the drivers of change.