Radios vs. Environmental Desctruction

If you were asked “What’s the first step in saving an endangered ecosystem?” what would your answer be? Perhaps you would think of building infrastructure to preserve the land in question. Maybe your thoughts would go to creating teams of people ready to head out and collect refuse, and manually clean the territory in question. But if you asked the partners in one PWRDF-supported project in Colombia, the first step to saving moorlands known as the páramos is “get radio production training.”

Colombia’s moorlands provide 70% of the country’s water supply and are home to several rare species of animals. But cattle ranching, intensive monocultures, land burning, mining (including by Canadian companies), and mass tourism threaten this life-giving ecosystem that so many Colombians depend on.

A group of Christian organizations are working to protect the moorlands by providing Colombians living in the paramos with radio production training. Grupo Communicarte, a social enterprise media group, is training indigenous Colombians, women, youth and men in 10 rural paramos communities to produce educational radio programs. These newly trained radio journalists will produce 60-minute programs about the paramos.

To the North American mind, radio programs might not seem like a mighty tool in the fight against environmental destruction. Colombia has one of the most developed community radio sectors. In many remote communities, local radio stations are a vital source of information and education. With the training Grupo Communicarte provides, these local radio stations become a crucial network in the fight to save the paramos: they equip their listening audiences with information to make informed decisions on matters affecting their delicate ecosystem.

This project is just one of the climate action initiatives supported by PWRDF. It captured the heart and imagination of the Cathedral’s PWRDF chapter and inspired the group to organize a Colombian Gala evening to raise funds to support this and other PWRDF projects. Taking inspiration from the community-focused ethos of the Grupo Communicarte radio project, the Cathedral’s PWRDF chapters turned to local social enterprises to make the evening happen.

The caterer for the evening, Colombian Antojitos, is a local, newcomer-woman-run business. It was started with the support of Flavours of Hope, a Vancouver-based social enterprise that uses food training to help newcomer women find their place of belonging in their new home.

Guests at the gala evening will be welcomed with a signature Colombian-style mocktail and hors d’oeurves. Colombian Antojitos owner, Viviana Rojas will provide a three-course meal that will be served family style, encouraging conversation, sharing and fellowship. A cash bar will serve local and fair-trade beers and wines. There will be various additional opportunities throughout the evening to support PWRDF projects.