Ecopetrol: Ecopetrol creates a network of ecoreserves

Ecopetrol, with the support of the Alexander Von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, began the creation of a network of conservation areas aimed at protecting biodiversity and offering ecosystem services.

The project starts with six eco-reserves located on the Company’s premises, in the department of Huila and the Magdalena Medio and Orinoquía regions. The goal by 2030 will be the creation of 50 eco-reserves.

The first areas of this type will be located in the San Francisco field, in Huila; the Cupiagua field, in Casanare; the Agro-Energy Sustainability Area (ASA) in the municipality of Acacías, and in Campo Rubiales, in Meta; at the Barrancabermeja Refinery and on Isla IV in Puerto Wilches, Santander. (See infographic)

These six lands have a high potential to contribute to conservation, through the preservation, restoration, sustainable use or knowledge of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The network of eco-reserves, a pioneer of its kind in the hydrocarbon sector in Colombia and internationally, is part of Fibras, a strategy of the Humboldt Institute and Ecopetrol for the planning and management of biodiversity and its contributions to well-being, based on science-based information.

Juliana Cortés, leader of the Fiber Ecoreserves Network component, highlighted that each of these spaces is located in regions with great potential, precisely because they are very different from each other.

“The Magdalena Medio has a vocation for restoration; Huila, for research projects, and Orinoquia, for sustainable use actions. In addition, these properties contribute to the scientific research interests of the Humboldt Institute on issues such as tropical dry forest and biodiversity management projects, since the eco-reserves will have their proper management plan ”, indicated the researcher.

Santiago Martínez, Ecopetrol’s Sustainability and Decarbonization Manager, ratified the Company’s commitment to the conservation of biodiversity and the search for natural climate solutions that allow the generation of environmental and social benefits, taking advantage of Colombia’s status as a megadiverse country.

“This voluntary effort to create 50 eco-reserves with an approximate area of ​​15,000 hectares, on properties owned by the Business Group, allows us to achieve environmental conservation goals and move towards meeting international goals on biological diversity, as well as our commitment to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050, ”explained Martínez.

In the medium term, the objective is to report some of the eco-reserves as OMEC (Other Effective Conservation Measures Based on Areas) before the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, and include them in the database of the World Conservation Monitoring Center of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The consolidation of these strategies makes it possible to contribute to the achievement of the goals of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, which proposes that countries increase the conservation of their territories by 30%. These purposes are contemplated in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of which Colombia has been a party since 1994 and whose objectives seek the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as a fair and equitable participation in the benefits that nature offers for the wellness.