When Juan Manuel Santos became president of Colombia in 2010, environmentalists were suspicious of his support for what they believed were destructive mining, agro-industrial and infrastructure projects. Those criticisms have not entirely disappeared. But as Santos prepares to finish his second and last term on Aug. 7 of this year, he is receiving accolades from former skeptics. They credit him not only for his protection of the nation’s water-rich páramos and wetlands, but for a massive expansion of national parklands to 29 million hectares (112,000 sq. miles), more than double their former land area. Most recently, Santos has won praise for his decision not to proceed with a major road project that many experts had deemed a threat to key ecosystems. On March... [Log in to read more]