Another Reason to be a Vegetarian; Saving the Wax Palm

Wax palms in Bogotá's Parque de la Independencia, where cattle do not roam, but lawnmowers do.

If better health and less strain on the planet aren't enough to convert you to vegetarianism, then perhaps saving Colombia's national tree.

Wax palms growing in the
Valle de Cocora,
where it is under threat.
(Photo: Wikipedia)

The palma de cera, or wax palm, forms elegant forests on the Andes' western slopes, at elevations between 2,500 and 2,800 meters. But the tree, which is the world's tallest palm, has long faced multiple human-created threats, including illegal logging, harvesting of its fronds for Christmas decorations and the use of the palm's fruits as cattle feed. According to Wikipedia, the tree's numbers have declined drastically.

Now, however, National University researchers have found an event more serious threat in many regions: Cattle, which eat the palms' sprouts, preventing the trees from replacing themselves. If the wax palms go, so will many other species, including parrots, which depend on them for food and shelter.

A hillside in the Valle de Cocora in 1988, with numerous wax palms. (Photo: Universidad Nacional)

The same hillside in 2012; few palms remain. (Photo: Universidad Nacional)

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

The Problem with Palm Sunday

This woman was selling leaves outside of Santa Ana Church in Teusaquillo. But I don't know the species. 

Today, Bogotá celebrated Palm Sunday, or Domingo de Ramos, the start of Easter Week. But while the day provides an opportunity for people to express their faith and visit beautiful old churches, it also carries an environmental cost: The traditional blessing of leaves from palmas de vino y de cera, wine and wax palms, is devastating those trees in the wild. The palma de cera is Colombia's national tree.

Children parade with palm leaves. (Photo: Amoabogotaonline.com)

Police confisticating wax palm fronds.
(Photo: CAR)

City officials have prohibited the practice and encouraged alternatives, such as using corn husks or live seedlings, which are planted afterwards. The Ministry of the Environment has even promoted making religious offerings out of junco, an aquatic weed which is choking reservoirs - thus killing two birds with one stone.

Palm Sunday also saw polemic between church leaders, who used the day to preach against legalized adoption by same-sex couples and gay-rights activists demanding the right. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule soon on the issue. Gays attended mass wearing shirts with phrases such as 'I am gay, I have kids and I'm Catholic' and 'Homofobia isn't Christian.'

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours