SPEECH BY RODRIGO HERNÁN VIVAS ROSAS ON THE ...

SPEECH BY
RODRIGO HERNÁN VIVAS ROSAS
ON THE OCCASION OF THE
2006 UNEP SASAKAWA PRIZE PRESENTATION CEREMONY
Monday 30 October 2006
New York City
Good evening, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of
UNEP, Mr. Achim Steiner, Mr. David Karashima of The Nippon Foundation, Mr. Sidi El
Moctar Ould Waled, President of the Tenadi Cooperative, Your Excellencies, Ladies and
Gentlemen:
A native of Cuaca, a small rural town located in the Southern part of the Andes in
Colombia, I am very happy to know that both, the United Nations Environment Program
and the organizers of the Sasakawa prize, value, admire and acknowledge our community
leadership and the environmental work we have been carrying out for several years.
This has been achieved with the efforts, dedication and collaboration of some regional local
institutions and organizations committed to their community and to environmental
negotiation.
I accept this prize in recognition of the hundreds of families that now believe and value the
importance of caring for water, and the use of preservation alternatives in rain water
harvesting. Their leadership has contributed to the development of a new culture on water,
resulting, in the immediate future, into a public policy in Colombia, and hopefully not only
there, but throughout the region and maybe world-wide.
Being the winner of the 2006 UNEP Sasakawa Prize reaffirms my commitment, personally,
and to my country’s communities, in the building of improved life conditions. Colombia
needs new approaches and vision on the use and management of water, as a human right
and as a public resource.
I have lived all my life on a farm. In childhood, I learned from the wisdom of my
grandfather “Crisanto Rosas”, who has now passed away. He was a humble farmer, an
“engineer of hills”, as he was called, who dedicated his life searching for water solutions
for many rural communities. He taught me from an early age the love, respect and care of
water. I have continued this task all my life, and I still look for alternatives guaranteeing a
water supply for present and future generations, particularly for the rural population.
Fighting poverty and desertification is a task for all, and it is clear that the ruling economic
model in Latin America is unsustainable, both from an ecological and conservation of water
standpoint. Our entire planet is suffering from extreme water resource waste and
degradation. There is practically no human activity that should not be reviewed, if
humankind is to survive its own environmental irrationality: the extraction and
transformation industries, agriculture, commerce, services, urban and architectural
proposals, consumption patterns, and even personal hygiene patterns must be re-thought in
order to avoid the exhaustion of the liquid, a disaster looming closer than we think.

Reflecting on the beauty, richness and potential of our countries, with their landscapes,
peoples and struggles, and where waters spring along the way as a symbol of hope, rejoices
us as well as worries us – mainly due to the deterioration of the protective forest zones,
diminishing everything due to the unjustified actions of men.
Even more dramatic is how many of our local governments still persist in their mercantile
and privatizing visions of water resources without the sufficient conservation measures,
completely blind to the implication and leadership of local organizations.
It is insufficient that our national environmental authorities continue to invest large sums in
advertising campaigns, publications and educational activities. We urgently need concrete
physical intervention and the support to the efforts of civil society.
Humankind already has gone beyond the demographic and economic scenario in which
hydric resources are inexhaustible. It is now mandatory to change this outdated and
inadequate notion. It is even possible that, due to the size of the world population, water
should be included in the category of non-renewable natural resources.
Taking into account regional demographic projections, the largest demand of water will
come from rural areas, for domestic consumption as well as for agriculture and cattle
raising, mainly to ensure the safety of our food supply. There is no Life without Water.
Thanks to the experience-sharing carried out in the past four years by the Latin American
and Caribbean Network on Alimentary Safety and Sustainable Development, (RedLayc, its
acronym in Spanish), I realized the urgency of promoting rain water harvesting in
Colombia, as an eventual public policy and a mechanism against poverty.
It is a great personal pride for me to receive this prize, representing the committed
communities that firmly believe in rain water harvesting. I still remember the many
personal efforts and the sacrifices my family made in order for me to complete my
academic and professional training. Specifically, my degree in law has enabled me to work
for the rural communities of my country, not in civil or penal litigations, but in
environmental management. Environment is my passion. These last years, this passion has
been supported by the Association of the Inter-Institutional Consortium for Sustainable
Agriculture, CIPASLA (its acronym in Spanish), and through my foundation” La
Fundación Accion Ambiental” – an organization created six years ago to support socioenvironmental
processes in the protection of biodiversity, water management and food
safety for present and future generations, with a special interest in children, youth and rural
women.
The trust of UNEP and of the Sasakawa Prize sponsor will allow the development of
solutions in Colombia, strengthening and promoting the use and harvest of rain water.
This should become a public policy and a priority for all local and regional governments,
since water is a universal right and a public good that should not be privatized.
The rural communities are those producing the food for the countries’ populations, with the
obligation to guarantee alimentary safety; they should have the right to use and utilize rain
water to satisfy their own water needs, including agricultural, domestic and other uses.

My message to the international community:
It is urgent to incorporate in our work the following orientations and universal
principles:
Water: It is a common good and a right for all living creatures on the planet.
Water: It is a collective and a public good that should not be a matter of privatization,
leading us to organize ourselves as a civil society in defense of water, together with the
support of our local authorities and international cooperation.
If we hope to reduce desertification, and to improve water management, let’s get
started.
To behave in an ecological manner is to ensure the survival of our present and future
generations.
How much paper is used around the world Paper has multiple uses. Each piece has
two sides. Let us use both sides to avoid and reduce deforestation.
Finally, I would like to thank UNEP and the sponsors of the Prize for their trust and
support, and to invite the international community and civil society to invest and support
me in environmental negotiations in defense of water and natural resources, as everything
done towards ecology and the environment is still too little.
Rodrigo Hernán Vivas Rosas
Executive Director
CIPASLA
FUNDACION ACCION AMBIENTAL
RedLayc
Colombia
E MAIL rodriven@cipasla.org faccinabiental@mail.com