The effects of climate change on tropical ecosystems cannot be interpreted based on physical variables alone. Severe water shortages and deterioration of ecosystems are most acute in places where historical inequalities occur, such as unequal access to land and other goods and rights necessary for the livelihood of marginalized populations. This paper explores environmental transformations and their repercussions on water resources based on spatial analysis and fieldwork carried out in the Colombian Caribbean. We have engaged with peasant and Afro-descendant populations who have been excluded from water use and now face problems in sustaining their way of life.
This article discusses strategies to bridge research and practice in knowledge co‐production in order to influence public policy implementation. It analyses a long‐lasting alliance between the Afro‐Colombian movement, academia and international organisations, triggering the Government's commitment to nationwide formalisation of collective territories. By combining collaborative and cartographic research, with historical and legal analysis through purposeful political advocacy, the Allies demonstrated the vulnerability of 271 untitled community lands within a socio‐territorial conflict context, emerging from competition and control over land and natural resources. This strategic alliance brought Law 70/1993 from stagnation to implementation.
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