MOORLAND, SOURCE OF WATER TO COLOMBIA AND THE RISK OF

LARGE SCALE MINING

Moorland is a tropical system in the mountains, is characterized by its large
capacity to regulate and to conserve hydric resources, they're considered water
factories.
This ecosystem is found at 8202 ft and 11812 ft above sea level, climatic
elements in the moorland are high humidity, dry wind and temperatures low.
It's a biological corridor for species of plants and animals unique in the world,
plants as (frailejones) and animals as (Andean bears, condors, puma etc.) The
importance of this class of vegetation it's the capacity to absorb around 40% of
water of total its weight, another species as black humus can retain 98% of
water, the system has 3379 species of plants, 70 species of mammals, 154
species of birds and 90 species of amphibians.
The moorlands are the origin of many watersheds, and supply the 70% of water
requirements to the country, theyre extremely important for the generation
and water regulation, while contributing to climate regulation thanks to its
ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
MOORS THREATENED
In Colombia some sectors think that conservation of this zones go in opposite
way to the economic development, this country presents economic
deceleration due to the international low prices of minerals and oil in 2015, and
the dependence of large mining scale is around the 2,1% of gdp and represents
de 18% of exportations.
The main degradation of these ecosystems are the agriculture, some illegal
crops as poppy, livestock and mining.
A social economic system (SES) consist of three terms: resilience, adaptability
and transformability, and if we see the definition of Resilience (capacity of a
system to absorb disturbance and reorganize still retaining essentially the
same function structure, identity and feedbacks), we understand disturbance
as (agriculture, livestock and mining), the impact are hardly recoverable
because requires too many time to system get stabilizing, the plants species its
growth it's estimated in 1 cm each year and they can reach heights of more
than 2 meters and half, low resilience leads a low adaptability and it's
inevitable when a system gets untenable, creates a new system
(transformability), it's a choice between preserving the system and give them
measures to get sustainable or still follow with the same practices that
deteriorates the environment and change the utility, the 70% of water supplies
come from moorlands in Colombia, which is the main priority?
Until now we have seen the ecological part, the actual state of moors and its
importance to life itself, in the social state the government has encompassed
this situation framed in the law, in the mining code a new reform, established
in the 34 article that will can't be realized mining exploitation in areas which

integrate the system of natural parks and zones of forest reserve, moors, and
wetlands, this zones will be delimited geographically in base with technique
studios, socials and environmental, excluding the mining activity in moorlands
in February 2010, law 1382, in 2011 the environmental ministry did establish
the cartography of moors to delimit the areas where cannot be developed
mining projects.
Also the law 99 of 1993 was specified that moor zones, water sources, aquifers
must be object of special protection due to the importance to mankind must be
protected as a priority in a sustainable way, this management and conservation
of the natural resources renewable it's in charge in Colombia, the
environmental ministry.
There arose a new question, if this zones so important to the life of the people
is protected for the state through laws and policies, how these ecosystems are
threatened yet?
Before of the protection law in 2010, were adjudicated 6000 mining titles in the
period 2006-2010 without any technical criteria and control, according the Von
Humboldt Institute the requests over mining titles were 986 over the moor
limits, along 27 moors of 34 existent, the titles correspond to gold and coal
mining extraction, at december of 2010 were granted 391 mining titles in
moors area, representing 108972 hectares.
One of the cases with more relevance is the Tasco moor linked mainly for coal
quality has been exploited underground but in the past it was exploited at open
sky illegally, between the impact damages generated by large mining in Tasco
identified were: watershed pollution by dumping water in mines, these acid
waters are consequence of crushing and washing of coal, releasing metals and
chemicals highly toxic, alteration of flows, erosion, vegetal loss and biodiversity
loss, instability and sliding of soil, during 27 days the Tasco community
established in the moorland resisting the advance of the multinational Hunza
Coal, achieving stop the machinery, the tribunals of the region did suspend the
activities of the enterprise by a popular action.
The buffers are an important way to create resilience, but if we analyze this
(SES), the only buffer active is the ecological buffers (the original ones) and
they have been destroyed by the factors aforementioned, institutional buffer:
the laws exist but always there's a way to manipulate it, there's a lack of
compromise the local governments to push off the multinationals outside of the
moor reserves, there's a buffer important the cultural one we see how the
community affected is intervening and protecting the areas and the river where
they take the water for their supplies.
The political constitution established the planning and the ecological order in
the country, the way that must be guaranteed the conservation of strategic
areas as moors without affect the develop of future generations, the large
mining is necessary to develop the country, it's an important economic
entrance, but must be according to laws, respecting the communities and the

areas protected for its importance, caring the quality of life of all people, these
ecosystem are important to Colombia but too for mankind.