Boyacá Cundinamarca Norte de Santander and Santander invest in the protection of their moors | News Today

The four departments of the Central region play a key role for Colombia in environmental matters, since in their jurisdictions is a large part of the national wastelands, water factories that supply different municipalities and departments. According to records from the Humboldt Institute, In the country there are 48,473 wetlands and amphibian territories; that is, water and land, flood and drought ecosystems depending on climatic conditions.

For this reason, the articulation of the governors of Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Norte de Santander and Santander is largely related to the management of environmental issues such as hydrographic basins and shared moors. Also with works such as the construction of wastewater treatment plants, which strengthen environmental care, the protection of ecosystems, resources and the integrity of its inhabitants.

Also read: The articulated work in the coffee region is the key to progress for the governors

In Boyacá, where a significant portion of the forests that protect their water sources have been lost in the last year due to fires and deforestation, water management has a key space on the agenda. He Governor Carlos Amaya, president of the National Federation of Departments (FND)expressed that in his department they are going to “work with Santander, Casanare and Arauca, because we produce a large part of the water that they consume; We want autonomous corporations to be able to take care of water.”.

To the initiatives of civil society organizations, public and private entities for environmental management and sustainable agriculture, administrative commitments are added, such as payments for environmental services with which the protection of the moors is sought, especially in the Barro Blanco Arriba, Camagoa, Palma Arriba and Zinc sidewalks, in the municipality of La Capilla.

A similar strategy is developed in Cundinamarcawhere “the government reiterates its commitment to the conservation of the environment, through the Payment for Environmental Services Program (PSA), implemented since 2014 in alliance with environmental authorities and public and private entities,” as expressed by the administration.

According to figures from the Government of Cundinamarca, this project has benefited 80,000 families in 62 municipalities of the departmentthey have trained 2,968 families, 94 water sources and nearly 11,00 hectares of forest have been protectedthrough the signing of 101 conservation agreements with the communities.

Diego Cárdenas Chala, Secretary of the Environment of the department, highlighted that this “is one of the most important projects, which can be done through operators (…). This It is a consideration for protection; We have and have reviewed some agreements to expand coverage at the territorial level and of benefited families.” He added that the conservation goal is 12,000 hectares in the next four years.

For his part, the Governor Jorge Emilio Rey has made it clear that another important environmental line for the administration is the development of the Sustainable tourism in places such as the municipalities of Manta and Machetá. “Cundinamarca needs adequate infrastructure to promote tourism that inspire sensitivity and environmental awarenessespecially among the new generations,” he said at the time.

Secretary Cárdenas Chala concluded that “Colombia has always felt that it is a power in biodiversity, magic and water wealth, but today we have to wake up to the reality we are living; Due to the development that the country has had, the projects and their environmental effects we no longer have that same condition. If we do not protect what we have today, our future and our development in the short term will have to be limited “what we have not wanted to take care of: natural resources.”

In the case of North of Santanderwhere water management is a key line of environmental work, the administration does not spare efforts in actions to protect sites such as the Santurbán Páramo. “It is a strategic ecosystem because It supplies water to the entire metropolitan area and there we find the generation of water tributaries. of the Zulia and Pamplonita rivers, as well as the Páramo Jurisdictions, in the municipality of Ábrego, which is part of that complex,” he explained. Cristhiam Jiménez, Secretary of the Environment.

To promote the care of these ecosystems, the administration carries out actions such as forestry projects for the agroecological delimitation of the territory, as well as the implementation of payments for environmental services. The official explained that the department has managed and implemented these incentives through organizations such as the BioCuenca Alliancebut at the moment they are planning its implementation for this quadrennium.

You may be interested in: Protection of the Amazon is a commitment for governors and institutions

William Villamizar, governor of Norte Santanderexpressed that the environmental commitment also includes the management of the metropolitan aqueduct of Cúcuta, “where there is a investment of nearly $400,000 million, 98% executed, which guarantees sustainability in terms of water supply for the next fifty years.” Its objective is to achieve the coordination of efforts of local leaders “so that it can come into operation and fulfill the objective for which it was designed”.

Added to the above is his interest in protection of the Santurbán Páramo: “we have to do our homework to continue with the acquisition of strategic areas and protecting themas well as the fight against illegal mining and a whole series of aspects that deteriorate the environment,” said the president.

For the development of these projects, the departmental portfolio of Environment, according to its secretary, will have a budget of $4,267 million pesos. Added to this is the provision of an item of $11,916 million for the purchase and acquisition of strategic areas for environmental conservation.

Finally, in the department of Santander The government joins the regional purpose of conservation of strategic ecosystems for environmental sustainability and the permanence of life. “Our bet is clear: protection of the moors and the environment in general, in harmony with the well-being of human beings. “We are actively working with the communities, with the parameros and environmental associations on the entire issue of protection of our water sources, native vegetation, etc.”, expressed the Governor Juvenal Díaz.

Furthermore, he was forceful in his position regarding the development of mining projects such as that of Santurbán, in which Colombia won an international lawsuitafter a lawsuit filed against the State by the Canadian mining company Red Eagle Exploration Limited. “I make my position clear: no to mining in the Páramo de Santurbán or in any other Páramo”said the president.

In addition to environmental protection, “the construction of as many Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) as possible. In Santander we have 45 municipalities without WWTP, that means that in those municipalities we are returning the dirty water, the sewage that we already use in our homes, to the channels, to our rivers.”

Also read: Governors of the Orinoquía join together to achieve regional development

To manage that situation. The Government of Santander proposed to build the necessary sanitation infrastructure, “thinking only about the protection of the rivers of our department”which is crossed by tributaries as important as the Oro, the Suratá, the Rionegro and the Cáchira. All of these are part of the water network of a region in which the coordination of communities and leaders for the environment is as important as the ecosystem services offered by the moors and lagoons that are located there.

*This is content developed within the framework of the Building Regions of Progress initiative, of the National Federation of Departments, and supported by El Espectador.