Sowing peace, life and reforestation

The Sowing Peace, Life and Reforestation project is an institutional initiative that aims to promote environmental restoration processes in the Andean region, through the consolidation of a nursery for the propagation of native species, planting and reforestation in rural and urban areas, as well as strengthening environmental care in water-rural areas.

The project involves students and teachers from the Environmental Engineering and Agronomic Engineering programs, the No. 38 Miguel Antonio Caro Battalion located in Facatativá, the provinces of Sabana de Occidente, Gualivá and Bajo Magdalena, and the No. 13 General Fernando Landazábal Reyes Artillery Battalion with jurisdiction in four localities of the city of Bogotá.

“One of the project's activities is the recovery of the water surface in the Tunjuelito River flood zone; since this ecosystem currently presents an environmental and health problem for the battalion because it is considered a dumping ground for solid and organic waste, where non-native vegetation proliferates,” highlights Fredy Duque Duque, a professor at UCundinamarca.

Another activity of the project is the reactivation of the Santa Barbara nursery, where it is expected to propagate 5,000 seedlings of native species, and the support of the nursery in the town of Usme, in which beautification, cleaning, collection of plant material and inventory of species were carried out.

Regarding planting, the project involves four reforestation days, with an emphasis on the Tunjuelito River watershed and the flood zone, as well as cleaning and solid waste collection days in the watershed.

It is worth noting that the planting of 2,800 native species, including suace, raque, oak, and caper trees, was carried out in the town of San Cristóbal with the support of the Secretary of the Environment, CAR, BAFLA, and the local community, in order to recover an area where a sawmill was located.

For this 2021-I period, the planting days have included the participation of students from the Environmental Engineering program: Paula Hernández, Lizeth Méndez, Camila Moreno, Daniela Diaz, Michael Martínez and Sebastián Blanco; and the community of Vereda Mancilla, Unidad Agroambiental El Vergel, Barrio Nuevo Milenio and the Cadet School, Mosquera sector Laguna de la Herrera, El Rosal Vereda Cruz Verdey Albán.

The reforestation plan is carried out with the propagation of species such as Chicalá, Guayacán, Wax Jasmine, Elderberry, Oak, Cedar, Caper, Borrachero, Trumpet, Alder, among other native or pioneer species.

“As students and interns, we provide support to activities within the jurisdiction of the 13th Artillery Battalion General Fernando Landazabal Reyes (BAFLA). The project has a broad scope and is an opportunity for professional growth, considering the contribution and support to the communities for the care of ecosystems. Furthermore, it is rewarding and meaningful to be able to train regular soldiers as environmental managers and to enable them to apply the knowledge acquired in the community at large and within the military community,” explain Diva Julissa Hernández Hernández and José David Bonilla Sierra, students.

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