Apoyo al proceso de ampliación del área protegida RNSC Cerro Matambo en el área de compensación ambiental de la Central Hidroeléctrica El Quimbo y formular lineamientos para su posible recategorización (Huila – Colombia)

Abstract

Enel-Colombia, through Resolution 0899 of May 15, 2009, obtained the environmental license for the construction of the El Quimbo Hydroelectric Power Plant (CHEQ). As a compensation measure for “forest harvesting”, the process of Ecological Restoration of the Tropical Dry Forest ecosystems (bs-T) on 11,079.6 ha located in the municipalities of Tesalia, Altamira, Agrado, Garzón, Gigante and Paicol, in the department of Huila, has served as a powerful tool for research and generation of knowledge about the bs-T, its management and rehabilitation. In order to guarantee the conservation of these ecosystems, 3,598 ha have been declared a Civil Society Nature Reserve. The initiative to declare the entire compensation area under a private category and then recategorize it as a public category was reconsidered due to unnecessary practices and legal inconsistencies. Instead, a decision tree was designed to select the best conservation strategy at different times, since restoration results are dynamic. It is suggested that efforts and resources be redrawn to the possible declaration of a protective forest reserve.