Record deforestation in the Amazon in neighbouring Brazil has grabbed world attention. But clearing trees for cattle also plagues Colombia.
Some years back, a friend’s family bought a finquita in the rolling coastal hills between Montería and the Caribbean coast, at 20 hectares it was just enough for a few cattle and a field of maize.
But first they needed to clear the land, so we set out in the sweltering heat with machetes, chainsaws and a cigarette lighter to remove the dry tropical forest, scattering birds into the smoky air and sending a troupe of howler monkeys scampering across the few remaining treetops into the neighbour’s plot.
