For three years, she traveled throughout the Amazon, sleeping in tents, cabins, and hammocks at night, and meeting with small farming communities, indigenous groups, and others during the day. They mainly met in the Macarena region of the Amazon, which the Colombian president had designated as a neutral zone. It was, in theory, a safe area where the government and rebels could go to negotiate a peace agreement. The parks agency usually convened these meetings because it was considered to be the most neutral entity around.
“We were not judgmental,” says Valenzuela. “We knew people at the meetings were growing illicit crops and affiliated with the rebel groups. It was just a fact, and we did not judge them for that. We just listened and then we provided alternatives, like sustainable livelihood opportunities that did not involve illicit crops. And we helped find new places for those displaced by the conflict to live. All of this helped us to build trust.”
But that was not enough. Three years of discussions, but no peace agreement to show for it in the end.
“We made progress,” she recalls. “We just could not get into the meat of things—the root causes of the conflict. It’s because there was not a sense of urgency.”
She eventually came out of the forest, left the agency, and completed two master’s degrees, one in international affairs and rural development, the other in science and conservation.
“I was so sad to leave the field. I was crying when I left, because I felt like I was betraying the people I had met and leaving them in the middle of the conflict.”
In reality, she never left the conflict behind. One of her theses related to financial mechanisms for the proper management of protected areas—the areas that were most affected by the conflict and, in many cases, were the source of the conflict.
And, fresh out of graduate school, she was back in the peace process again—this time as a member of WWF’s Colombia team. When she started working for WWF in 2004, she coordinated the office’s strategic planning and monitoring.
Now, with the peace agreement signed, she leads the WWF team that is helping bring to life what is seen as one of the best strategies for implementing the agreement: Heritage Colombia.
“I finally have faith that we can start creating what we have wanted for so long—using our natural heritage to promote peace. Our parks are an opportunity to make peace real and provide tangible benefits to all of us.”