One of the cons of today’s hyper-globalized, super connected world is that resources across the world can be exploited by just about any other nation, seeking to take advantage of weak government protections for their own benefit.
With China’s rapdily industrializing economy causing more and more room for a middle class with extra income, luxury commodities once restricted to the upper ruling class of China are now up for purchase, and the country with the world largest population has the ability to destabilize economies because of these changes.
This effect is crystallized in the phenomena of shark-fin soup, which has long been criticized because of its cruelty and widespread use, with over 100 million sharks being caught and killed each year. While environmental groups across the globe warn of the dangers of over-fishing on global ecosystems and food sustainability, the fact remains that markets are key, and countries without the capital and stability to truly reinforce their resources are harming themselves in the process. In Colombia, because of the lucrative prices the fins can fetch, sometimes over $2000 a kilogram, fisherman are finding it financially impossible to NOT fish.
There really aren’t many solutions to a problem like this, and I think it just shows the power and influence of global markets on regional economies and environments. While Colombia is a signatory on a regulation to stop shark finning, the fact remains that unless the fisherman are raised out of poverty, laws and police officials are supported by the central government more heavily, or East Asian markets decide they no longer want shark fin soup (whether by an artificial raising of the price, extra government regulation, or the outlawing of importing the ingredient), the sharks will likely continue to be suffer.
Speaking of ecological damage in Colombia, Pablo Escobar’s escaped hippos are actually an extremely interesting instance of how invasive species can be spread through interstate commerce. With the drug lord who once essentially controlled the country now long dead, the hippos he once imported are actually posing a threat to the region, causing eutrophication in the water and spreading throughout the Colombian swamps. This poses a long term threat to the sustainability of farming in the region, especially as the hippos spread to Colombias largest river. The excess nitrogen they produce can deprive the water of oxygen it needs, meaning it can support fewer fish and actually harm the plants with an excess of nitrogen.
Regardless of how the Colombian government attempts to solve these problems, their impacts could help set precedents as to how lesser powers can help to protect their own resources in a world increasingly torn and threatened by the emergence of China as a superpower.