The Inga indigenous people drove the Wausikamas Movement to create an alliance with the Colombian government to reclaim rights to tens of thousands of hectares of ancestral land through the expulsion of drug-related activity in the area. The Inga reforested and regenerated land that had been degraded as a result of poppy cultivation and established various livelihood options from organic crop cultivation.

Nature-based Intervention:

In the midst of armed conflict, the indigenous Inga people in the village of Aponte successfully regained their rights to 22,283 hectares of their ancestral land. Practically, this was achieved through their Wausikamas Movement which created an unprecedented alliance with the Colombian government to compensate the Inga people for removing drug plantations from their land. The Movement has created a Tribunal to support other indigenous communities in the area claim their rights to ancestral land and expel the conflict-laden and violent intrusion of the drug industry. The Wausikamas Movement expelled guerilla groups, paramilitaries, and armed drug trafficking groups before designating 17,500 hectares as sacred area.

Overview of context and outcomes:

On their reclaimed land the community cultivates organic food using organic fertilisers and regenerate and reforest areas that had previously been affected by poppy plantations. They focus on cultivating coffee, banana, sugarcane, fruit trees such as orange, avocado, tomato, lulo, lemon and soursop, and timber such as myrtle, oak, Colombian pine and guayacán.