The acting minister, Irene Velez, stated that this decision is a historic step to protect the lungs of the planet and ensure that the Amazon does not reach the critical point of no return, a scenario in which the ecosystem would lose its capacity for regeneration and irreversible processes of degradation would be unleashed.

“The Amazon is the heart of life: it regulates water and climate, and is the epicenter of biodiversity, both nationally and globally. It covers more than 483,000 square kilometers, 42 percent of our country,” the official stated.

The objective, she noted, is to restrict conventional extractive activities in departments such as Amazonas, Caqueta, Putumayo, Guaviare, Guainia, and Vaupes.

“We are doing this to prevent forest loss and degradation; water grabbing and the pollution of our rivers; and the accumulation of environmental impacts arising from decades of industrial hydrocarbon exploitation and, to a lesser extent, mining in the Amazon,” she emphasized.

According to the Ministry, the Amazon Biome faces increasing pressures from mining and hydrocarbons, which generate cumulative impacts and structural risks.

She warned that the opening of infrastructure in departments such as Putumayo and Caqueta has directly and indirectly fueled deforestation, ecosystem fragmentation, and the loss of forest cover, while also decreasing water quality and degrading soils.

These effects, when interacting with climate change, are amplified in a cascading manner, harming the country’s water and food security and territorial governance, the ministry stated.

The project, on which comments will be available for the next 15 days, respects established situations and establishes a transitional regime, the source noted.

Therefore, current titles or contracts with an environmental license may be executed until the established term.

jdt/ro/ifs