The country’s long-running conflict continues to impact life in many rural areas, which also face threats from illegal mining and other extractive industries.

Every morning we hug the river,” says Alexander Rodriquez Mena of the embrace shared by his people and their beloved River Atrato.

The Atrato was protected nearly 10 years ago after people got together to persuade Colombia's constitutional court to force the government to take action. Special protections are now in place.

The Atrato River in Colombia, which was granted similar rights in 2016, continues to suffer from pollution from mining activities, with accounts of some of the river’s guardians being too afraid ...

The Atrato River, in the Choco region - the poorest in the South American country - has long been blighted by paramilitary gangs, guerrilla warfare and environmental devastation.

Ramon Cartagena, a 59-year-old environmentalist and guardian near the river's source in El Carmen de Atrato, is equally despairing. "There is no life at all in the river," he said.

New armed groups have filled the void left by FARC fighters. Locals still fear health risks from the river's turbid waters. The plight of the Atrato underscores the challenges facing conservationists ...

Many initiatives by ethnic communities in impoverished Choco in northwestern Colombia aim to fight back against the environmental devastation inflicted upon the Atrato, a river that weaves around ...