Javier Francisco Parra Cubillos, environmental director of Cormacarena [8], the government body responsible for managing Sierra de la Macarena National Natural Park [11] on the eastern slopes of the Colombian Andes, died in a local hospital Dec. 3 after receiving multiple gunshot wounds from a pair of presumed sicarios (hired assassins) who fired on him from a motorbike. The area of fragile cloud-forest, in a remote part of Meta department, has long been the scene of armed conflict [12] and coca cultivation [13], and has recently seen a surge in illegal logging. Parra Cubillos won brief national attention in 2017, when he accompanied Colombia's then-president Juan Manuel Santos on a visit to a scenic site within the park, Caño Cristales [14] (Cyrstal Canyon), to raise awareness about the need to preserve the zone. The government has offered a reward of 40 million pesos (about $11,500) for information leading to the apprehension of the assailants.
Cormacarena tweeted [15] in response to the assassination, "Nothing will deter the work we carry out to combat deforestation in the south of Meta."
In September, Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology & Environmental Studies (IDEAM [16]) issued a report [17] finding an astonishing 83% increase in deforestation in the adjoining departments of Meta, Guaviare and Caquetá, with an estimated 64,000 hectares cleared. (El Tiempo [18], El Tiempo [19], El Espectador [20], El Espectador [21], Semana [22], Semana [9], EFE [23])
