BIODIVERSITY
Caring for biodiversity is a priority for GeoPark. We understand that a joint effort is required to ensure that we all work to avoid, mitigate or eliminate any impact that puts the planet’s biodiversity at risk. Our contribution has focused on the execution of important programs, with expert partners at the national and international levels, aimed at caring for and preserving the richness of the natural environment surrounding our operations.
COLOMBIA
Land conservation
In 2019, in partnership with the Tauramena Mayor’s Office and the Orinoquia Biodiversa Foundation (FOB), we undertook the “Valuation of ecosystem services, characterization of biodiversity and wetlands” research project, a baseline for the integral management of the municipality of Tauramena, Casanare, which constitutes a key tool for decision-making on the environmental conservation of the territory. The work also served to make an exhaustive characterization of species of flora and fauna that was documented in the “Tauramena Natural” catalog.
Wildlife crossings
An initiative developed in association with the Orinoquia Biodiversa Foundation (FOB), focused on defining a strategy to promote connectivity and the conservation of diversity in fragmented landscapes. This study of wildlife crossings in the Llanos 34 block, enables the definition of clear strategies for the protection and conservation of the species identified and that form part of the strategic wildlife corridors in our operations.
Donation of the “La Esmeralda” Nature Reserve
We donated a 1,968-hectare property that is part of the National System of Protected Areas to the Mayor’s Office of Paz de Ariporo, Casanare. The nature reserve is classified as a perpetual conservation area, due to its unique flora and fauna.
PERU
The Morona Project Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Program (BMAP)
BMAP is an agreement between GeoPark Peru and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), one of the largest research centers in the world. The purpose of this joint effort was to evaluate and recommend how to avoid, minimize and restore impacts of industrial development on the biodiversity in the Morona Project’s area of direct influence (AID).
Some of the project results in 2019:
We identified places to create canopy bridges along a 30 kilometer stretch of the flow line that will take the oil from the platforms to the Morona camp, which would guarantee the connectivity of ecosystems for the animals in the region.
We discovered, with the support of scientific experts, a way to mitigate the impact of white light on insects by installing special amber LED lamps, which have a lesser effect and preserve the pollination cycles of the insects in the Amazon ecosystem.
We identified 180 bird species in the preliminary analysis of sound recordings.
Using camera traps, 31 species of birds and mammals that inhabit project surroundings were recorded. Once the Morona Project starts, we will implement special projects to ensure their conservation.
We identified 140 registered fish species, out of a total of 1,100 specimens analyzed. Before this registry, 40 of them were unknown to the scientific community.
We recorded the vegetation in the right of way area and monitored the change in vegetation cover at a landscape level.
Finalists in the 2019 Sustainable Development Prize With the Morona Project Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Program (Morona BMAP), we were finalists in the Environmental Management category in the 2019 Sustainable Development Prize of Peru’s National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy. The recognition is for the best environmental and social practices in the mining and energy sector.