In the crater of a semi-dormant volcano in southwest Colombia lies a sacred lake of startling green which used to draw a steady stream of garbage-tossing tourists before Indigenous leaders took back control.
Ascending the Azufral volcano which rises to 4,070 meters (2.5 miles) in the western Colombian Andes is not for the faint-hearted.
It's also not for the uninvited. Only those who receive the nod from the governor of the local Indigenous Pastos community may pass.
Ascending the Azufral volcano which rises to 4,070 meters (2.5 miles) in the western Colombian Andes is not for the faint-hearted.
It's also not for the uninvited. Only those who receive the nod from the governor of the local Indigenous Pastos community may pass.
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NewsTranscript
00:00When we hear the word tourism, it terrifies us, because we live it, and we had to suffer
00:10when we found all the garbage, when we found all the damage they did to the area.
00:14We had to live that, and we had to return the people, we were the ones who suffered.
00:20So when they tell us tourism, for us that generates panic.
00:30We have decided, we said no, let's go up, it's our territory, let's go up and take care of it.
00:58We are the only water source that the municipality has, and we cannot risk the future of our
01:02wauwas by giving pleasure to people who come to have fun.
01:07For us, indigenous people, sacred sites are very important, at least for the people
01:28who are bad, to purify the spirit, the body, that at least one can come here to this place
01:38to come and have a spiritual healing.
01:54The people that we sometimes find in the area, it's out of ignorance, to the locals
01:59that we have found, that they know that there is a declaration of closure, that they know
02:04that the indigenous guard is here taking care, we apply everything to them, we apply customs
02:10and customs here.
02:11It's a beautiful place, you can park everywhere, you can sleep everywhere, so I know for sure
02:38that if they open this park again, everybody would like to wild camp here, not respect
02:45nature.
03:11The most practical thing is to control the number of tourists that come to the destination,
03:16not to make an invasive tourism, that 100,000 tourists don't come to the area, because
03:21they finish it.
03:22The idea is to make a study, a weight of cargo, so that in one day about 10, 20 people
03:29can come.