Environmental management in land-use planning for the conservation of environmental services in Rioblanco (Tolima)

Abstract

The 1991 Political Constitution contains within its spirit the decentralization of the State, by empowering the territories and determining that are responsible for ordering and regulating their use from the productive, social and environmental aspects. For this reason, in 1997 Act 388 was issued, which regulates all aspects related to land-use planning.

The objective of this work is to analyze environmental management within the territorial ordering for the conservation of ecosystem services in the municipality of Rioblanco (Tolima). To this effect, territorial planning instruments were analyzed; social, institutional and community actors were interviewed; and finally, an analysis of the factors that affect the conservation of ecosystem services was carried out. As a result, there is a lack of articulation among planning instruments, which generates a development that does not respond to the real needs of the territory. Rioblanco has three (3) protected areas recognized by the National System of Protected Areas (sinap), paramos and ecosystems complexes with high environmental importance and low representation in sinap, but which are not reflected in the management and planning instruments. It was also possible to identify that the communities and environmental authorities do not feel involved in the formulation of these instruments, distancing them from contributing to the development of the region. Lastly, it was determined that the Municipality is a territory that stands out in the sector, especially in mining, which can affect its ecological structure, added to the fact that it lacks scenarios for the protection of the territory.