How would you feel if some uninvited people came to your house and made a mess everywhere? Well, you must be angry, right? This is how the indigenous Pastos community felt when tourists polluted their sacred Laguna Verde Lake. Laguna Verde Lake, a sacred lake, is located in the crater of a semi-dominant volcano in southwest Columbia. Before the indigenous Pastos community took back control of the lake, it was highly polluted with garbage and had a startling green colour.
How & Why Did The Indigenous Pastos Community In Colombia Take Back The Control?
On the north-west side of the crescent-shaped Laguna Verde Lake lies the Azufral volcano in Colombia’s western Andes. It is not for the uninvited ones, as only those with the approval of the local indigenous Pastos community can ascend it. The indigenous community believes that without the permission of the sacred lake, no one can visit it, as the spirits of the lake don’t like to be disturbed.
A Columbian media outlet, El Tiempo Daily, in 2011, described Laguna Verde Lake as a hidden gem. For a long time, this lake was like a best-kept secret. However, once this secret was out, the lake was surrounded and filled with tourists. This felt like an invasion of the community. They climbed up the volcanoes with motorbikes and disrupted the local ecosystem. Trampled with nature so much that even faecal matter was found in drinking water.
In 2017, the Pastos, who owned the land of Laguna Verde Lake and the 7,503-hectare surrounding reserve, took the step to close the lake. This decision was approved by the local authorities in 2018. It took weeks for the community to clean up the lake and the surroundings, as there was so much garbage.
Over 7-years of preservation, the sacred lake remains uninhabited beyond the climbing path, with patrolling guards removing any intruders if found.
Laguna Verde Lake is a sacred and culturally important site for the indigenous Pastos community in Colombia. It is a high mountain ecosystem, which emphasises the importance of preserving such natural resources.
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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