SIB and GBIF information systems

The Ecopetrol Group, through the databases Sistema de Información de Biodiversidad de Colombia SiB Colombia and the worldwide biodiversity platform, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Ecopetrol S.A., this platform carries out biological records of the biodiversity found through rapid biodiversity monitoring in Ecoreserves, impact studies, camera traps, permanent monitoring and voluntarily, through the Ecoreserves Network project in alliance with the Humboldt Institute.

 

Publication in the Colombian Biodiversity Information System (SIB): Ecopetrol is positioned as the company with the second highest number of records included and is among the four companies with the highest number of citations, with a total of 706.383 biological records, 325 citations and 122 datasets (information reviewed until April 2024). More information: Search resources (GBIF).

Ecopetrol has recognized the importance of this type of initiatives, to generate knowledge base on Biodiversity, generating tools that allow its proper management and conservation.

 

 

Publications

 

Thanks to the agreement signed with ANDI, two papers were published:

 

Elevando la acción colectiva empresarial para la gestión integral del bosque seco en Colombia.

It is a document that emphasizes on the share of interdisciplinary experiences between science, policies and business plans, as well as on the identification of synergies between different institutions, unions, companies and organizations around four main axes. First, the baseline, importance and regulatory framework for restoration in STB ecosystems at a national level. Second, the vision and management framework of the business sector against the restoration of STB’s. Third, the experiences and good practices of the business sector around restoration in this strategic ecosystem. Finally, the recommendations to promote the involvement of the business sector in restoration efforts at a national level.

 

Experiencias público–privadas de monitoreo, seguimiento y reporte de la biodiversidad en contextos ANDINO-AMAZÓNICOS.

Advancing towards sustainability is a fundamental purpose for Putumayo when considering that this department is strategically located in biogeographical terms, with an altitude gradient that ranges between 160 and 3940 m.a.s.l., and an extension from the foothills of the Western Cordillera to the Amazon plain. Therefore, from the Putumayo Biodiversity and Development initiative and with the technical support of environmental entities, the document aims to direct guidelines and voluntary and mandatory investments of companies in order to improve connectivity in favor of biodiversity and social welfare of the inhabitants of the area. This is how this publication was born, one that seeks to collect the contributions led by entities at a national scale, as well as the methodological developments specific to the Colombian Amazon.

 

The agreement with the Alexander Von Humboldt Institute has enabled four publications:

 

Gran Libro de la Orinoquía, lanzado en 2020.

The Great Book of the Colombian Orinoquía presents topics of general interest, with essential information to understand the origin and dynamics of the socio-ecological arrangements of the territory, its main characteristics and the requirements for its operation. It is a book to learn and teach how to read its landscapes, its facts and its symbols, its territorial systems and images, with the desire to build in the future, jointly, a common reference of territory; one in which it does not lose its essence, its wonder and its magic. All this is condensed into three units: History, Diversity and Rivers.

 

Biodiversidad y Petróleo: Retos para transformar el futuro, lanzado en 2021.

This publication aims to contribute to the renewal of a discourse on sustainability, with an emphasis on issues that arise from environmental and some social perspectives, as a reflection for the hydrocarbon sector. The elements of knowledge exist, but they are scattered and slowly emerge in the midst of greater conflict. It seeks to expand the understanding and appropriation of concepts, which are already in the process of consolidation under the scope of sustainability sciences that are gradually permeating the knowledge and professional practice of the industry. These elements are presented as challenges for the sector to forcefully address a commitment with the transformation of the future. The analysis occurs around the hydrocarbon sector, especially around Ecopetrol S.A., given its status as the most important company in this sector in Colombia.

 

XX. Peces del Bajo Río Sogamoso, Cuenca del Magdalena, Colombia: diversidad, uso y conservación, lanzado en 2021.

This book represents Ecopetrol’s interest in raising awareness about the importance of building conservation strategies for fish species as part of the actions that support the sustainable development of communities, companies and ecosystems. Likewise, it is an invitation to continue with the deepening of the available knowledge of biodiversity in Colombia, to continue discovering all that wealth that is found in the territories. This publication constitutes the first list of fish species from the lower basin of the Sogamoso River, along with taxonomic, descriptive, biogeographical, biological, ecological and conservation information. The latter will serve as a basic support tool for local fishermen and regional and national institutions with decision-making power, and resources for the management and conservation of various fish species.

 

Biodiversidad colombiana en detalle, lanzado en 2022.

A detailed look into Colombian biodiversity is a representation of the extraordinary richness of our fauna and flora. It focuses on the aesthetic pleasure that plants and animals bring, resulting from a scientific - protection-related - and artistic - photographic - exercise carried out by Ecopetrol and the Humboldt Institute, to strengthen a network of eco-reserves. This book aims not only to reach readers but also spectators who can be moved by the stunning portraits and the allure of plots and textures of various species, as if they were visiting an art exhibit or walking attentively through a natural path. It offers the opportunity to get closer to nature without leaving the personal space of the reader, providing a clear and simple vision that enables the observation of these plants and animals in proximity and without any element that may hinder the view. This book attempts a double, perhaps paradoxical, movement: putting aside the landscape to point out the richness that it hides and exalting that richness to restore its value within the landscape. Thus, the isolated detail in the book captures the reader's attention in a way that, when they return to their reality, urges them to become more aware of the life that surrounds them.

 

FIBRAS · Esencia y territorio.

There are many products of scientific knowledge, informative and social appropriation of knowledge that have been produced within the framework of this alliance. On this occasion and as a final publication, we present FIBRAS: essence and territory: Socio-ecological transitions towards Sustainability®, which brings together the main results obtained in the work components in the different areas of study throughout three years of this alliance.

 

 

The book was published within the framework of the Wildlife Project, developed with partners WCS and Fondo Acción:

 

Bitácora del PVS.

Expansion of crops, destruction of wetlands and primary forests, hunting of species, pollution of large rivers and their tributaries, and a reduction in populations of wildlife and flora are environmental problems that affect three geographically-opposed regions: the Magdalena Medio, the Eastern Plains, and Putumayo. The Wildlife Project (PVS) is present in each of these regions to mitigate the consequences of these problems, without imposing a different model from the one that the communities that inhabit them want to shape. The PVS Logbook is a journey through different local testimonies beautifully accompanied by infographics, maps, and illustrations. Moreover, it is a tour through beautiful images woven from the talent of "PATO" Salcedo and the editorial team of PuntoAparte. Ultimately, it is the synthesis of a great collective effort that compiles the results of the PVS around the conservation of species, sustainable landscapes, and the well-being of the human communities settled in different territories.

 

The agreement with TNC resulted in the publication of a publication:

 

Uso sostenible: Lineamientos para su implementación en el marco de las compensaciones bióticas e inversión forzosa de no menos del 1%.

It is based on a document resulting from an alliance to develop innovative proposals that seek to enhance the impact of corporate environmental investments and offer tools that strengthen environmental management. Through this guide, we aim to encourage sustainable use actions, overcome identified barriers, and provide instruments, methodologies, and analytical frameworks to ensure that sustainable use can be implemented by more projects in the territories where companies are investing their environmental obligations. Additionally, it presents technical guidelines for incorporating sustainable use into environmental investments as an action that not only contributes to no-net-loss biodiversity but also enhances investment sustainability and can be a development opportunity for local communities.

 

Articles in indexed journals

 

Corridors in heavily fragmented landscapes: Reconnecting populations of Critically Endangered brown spider monkeys (Ateles hybridus) and sympatric terrestrial vertebrates in the lowland rainforests of Central Colombia.

In tropical ecosystems, habitat degradation and fragmentation are some of the most important drivers of biodiversity loss. In Colombia, the Magdalena River basin is home to a megadiverse wildlife community, which has been historically exposed to pervasive habitat loss and fragmentation. Within a long-term project on the conservation of critically endangered brown spider monkeys (Ateles hybridus), we signed conservation agreements with local landowners to protect the remaining forests and reconnect them through restoration corridors. This study provides initial data supporting the use of corridors as a strategy to reconnect wildlife in isolated forest fragments in heavily fragmented landscapes, as well as the establishment of effective corridors that reconnect forest-dwelling species in relatively short periods of time (<5 years).

 

Las especies paisaje como estrategia de conservación de la biodiversidad: evaluación cuantitativa de su efectividad.

Species-oriented conservation programs are a common strategy to halt biodiversity loss. The landscape species concept is based on the selection of a group of species with certain characteristics allowing to identify and address the threats to biodiversity present in a particular area. It has two main assumptions: 1) that conservation of landscape species will result in the conservation of other species in the ecosystem, and 2) that it will also maintain the ecosystem structure and its corresponding functions. To assess these hypotheses, we rely on data from the Wildlife Project, a conservation initiative developed with this approach in two areas of Colombia. We evaluated in a quantitative fashion the first hypothesis through multi-season occupancy models using data from camera traps (2015 to 2017). We then estimated the effect of conservation actions in reducing forest loss at the scale of individual land properties and at the landscape scale by comparing deforestation rates in similar areas but in the absence of conservation actions (counterfactual).

 

Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity, Population Structure and Detection of Antillean and Amazonian Manatees in Colombia: New Areas and New Techniques.

The Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus) and the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis) are distributed in rivers in the Caribbean and Amazonian region of Colombia respectively. In this study, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (CR) sequences from samples of T. manatus and T. Inunguis. Our results included the discovery of two newly described mtDNA CR haplotypes for T. manatus. In addition, we confirmed significant population differentiation at the mitochondrial level between the Magdalena and Sinú rivers and differentiation among areas of the same river, including the middle and low Magdalena River. We also emphasize on the need to continue using genetic information to provide evidence on the potential best locations to undertake animal release to prevent outbreeding depression.

 

Effects of selective fishing on a small-scale multi-species and multi-gear freshwater fishery in the Magdalena River Basin (Colombia).

Classical management has not been able to stop the 65% decrease in fishery production during the last 40 years in the Magdalena-Cauca River Basin. To analyze the effects of selective fishing of multiple species and small scale fisheries we addressed temporal changes at fishing level and the response of fishermen. The fishery reduced production and CPUE (catch per unit effort standardized), decreased the large sizes and growth rates of Prochilodus magdalenae and Pseudoplatystoma magdaleniatum, changed the abundance of trophic levels (decreased carnivores and increase of detritivores, omnivores), and increased exploitation rates. We conclude that selective fishing has had ecological effects and fishermen have empirically self-regulated to optimize the cost–benefit ratio of their activity, developing a fishery that is more in line with ecosystemic structures. We address the balanced harvest strategy as a management alternative.

 

Agro-industrial valorization of the pulp and peel, seed, four, and oil of moriche (Mauritia fexuosa) from the Bita River, Colombia: a potential source of essential fatty acids.

The expansion of the agricultural frontier in the eastern llanos region of Colombia has endangered the moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa) which has an important ecological function and provides various ecosystem services. In particular, the moriche that grows in this region is wild and has been little studied; therefore, there are no reports of its potential as a source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, information that could be useful for the conservation of the species. This study performed a physicochemical characterization of the oil extracted from the dried pulp of moriche and identified the fatty acids present in the oil, pulp and peel, seed, and flour of this fruit from the Bita River Basin, Vichada, Colombia. We conclude that moriche from Bita Basin is an oleaginous fruit due to its high nutritional value in terms of unsaturated fatty acids and that both the flour and the oil obtained are bioproducts with potential industrial application.

 

Evaluation of alternative conservation strategies for the blue-billed curassow Crax alberti in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia.

The blue-billed curassow Crax alberti is a Colombian endemic species Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to the effects of hunting and habitat loss. A population viability analysis was carried out for a population in the municipality of Yondó, Antioquia, on the reproductive ecology of the species. Seven realistic conservation scenarios were evaluated comparing the effects that changes in hunting mortality, carrying capacity and initial population size have on the probability of population survival. We found that: (1) the population studied is not viable over a 100-year period under current conditions; (2) mortality as a result of hunting and initial population size have the greatest impacts on mean time to extinction; (3) a strategy based on eliminating hunting at the two sites with the largest remnants of forest on the landscape could ensure population viability over a 100-year period; and (4) other strategies (i. e. supplementation of the population with captive-bred individuals, reduction of deforestation in the landscape) do not guarantee population viability if hunting mortality remains constant, even at low levels.

 

Courses and Webinars on Nature-Based Solutions

 

Within the framework of the Fibras initiative (Instituto Humboldt), a virtual diploma course: Conservation, biodiversity management and sustainable bioeconomy, was held in 2022, with the support of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. This course had an intensity of 80 hours, 500 people were selected, 178 belonging to the government sector, 249 were entrepreneurs and 73 were Ecopetrol personnel. It was conducted in virtual mode, aimed at all audiences and without academic prerequisites.

 

As part of Agreement 01 with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a virtual diploma course: Nature-Based Solutions, a tool for territory management was carried out in 2021, with the support of Proterra and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana - Cali. This diploma had a duration of 80 hours and had the participation of 35 organizations, and more than 100 registered people.

 

Additionally, a cycle of 10 webinars: A coffee for the territory, was conducted on: Conservation and tools for territory management, with the participation of 380 people.

 

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Nature-Based Solutions NBS Platform

 

The Nature-Based Solutions Platform was built in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). It presents methods and tools for the formulation, implementation and monitoring of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects related with biodiversity conservation, climate change (adaptation and mitigation) and water security. Check the Nature Based Solutions Platform.

 

Biodiversity monitoring tools

The Ecopetrol Group through different agreements and initiatives has established tools to monitor and record the fauna present in the Orinoquia and Middle Magdalena. In order to contribute to decision making and contribute to knowledge and scientific research, through:

 

• Regionalized biomodels
• Trail cameras
• Biomonitors
• Community and participatory monitoring

 

Regionalized biomodels

The purpose of Biomodels is to represent the habitat of species based on the modeling of their environmental niche, using data from remote sensors and camera traps.

What are Biomodels used for?

• They are developed to apply their results to the evaluation and management of biodiversity.
• They make it possible to evaluate changes in the distribution of species by monitoring trends in range loss or gain.

Within the framework of the Fibras agreement, 194 regionalized BioModels were generated (56 species in Magdalena Medio, 58 species in Piedemonte Casanare, 69 species in Piedemonte Meta and 11 in Río Tillavá), allowing the modeling of species distribution for 8 million hectares. Get to know in detail the way of carrying out local biodiversity monitoring.

Photos source: https://colombia.inaturalist.org/ 

 

Trail cameras

Researchers from the Humboldt Institute and local organizations in the Orinoquia and Magdalena Medio regions join forces to monitor the fauna that surrounds them.

Technological development is an indispensable ally that marks a milestone in the knowledge of Colombian biodiversity, installing 600 camera traps in the regions of Magdalena Medio, Piedemonte Casanare, Piedemonte Meta and Río Tillavá. During this photo-trapping activity, large volumes of information on birds and terrestrial mammals were collected, resulting in more than 315,000 photographs, of which 124,919 had records of fauna, including domestic and human animals, as well as 20,332 records of 232 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles. More information: http://humboldt.org.co/fibras/componente3.html

With the results of the monitoring survey with trap cameras, a web miniseries of 4 chapters about biodiversity was created, whose intention is to spread knowledge about the behavior of some wild species:

 

Biomonitors

To enable the generation of biodiversity knowledge in the Ecoreserves and the participation of local communities in the activities associated with the conservation objective of these areas, the development of the *Biomonitors program was proposed.

This program has allowed local residents who are interested in learning and studying the biodiversity of their territory, to join the traditional knowledge academic community, with students of natural sciences, generating knowledge to contribute to the conservation of ecosystems and the dissemination of the outstanding value that these ecosystems have in the territory.

Meet the biomonitors and the work developed in the ASA La Guarupaya Ecoreserve, an articulated work between the Humboldt Institute, students and the work of people from the community who contributed to the construction of scientific knowledge.

  *Biomonitors: members of the community who, thanks to their interest in learning about biodiversity and their willingness to observe, record, and appreciate nature, do work that allows for inventorying and monitoring biodiversity in the Ecoreserves.

 

La Tribuna Ecoreserve Program 2021-2023

It developed its first phase between 2021 and 2023 with a continuous work to record species within different seasons of the year, allowing to analyse its abundance and proportion according to this conditions.  A great contribution in terms of data for the study of biodiversity in the area. Eight biomonitors (local residents) and 18 undergraduate and master's degree students participated in this phase. Currently, a second phase is being conducted between 2023 and 2024 with the participation of 5 biomonitors and lines of research based on breeding and monitoring of lepidoptera, the development of the germplasm bank and production of seedlings of native species of the Ecoreserve, and the continous surveys of flora and insects. In addition to the biodiversity data, the biomonitors have generated publications in conjunction with students and natural science professionals in their field of training. As a result of the biodiversity characterization and monitoring processes, the following booklets have been produced: Mariposas de la Ecoreserva La Tribuna Observaciones biológicas de inmaduros en cría, orden Lepidoptera. Bosque Seco Tropical Mariposas. Otro tesoro de la Ecoreserva La Tribuna Mamíferos de la Ecoreserva La Tribuna Notas de Campo. El cuaderno como instrumento de aprendizaje

 

ASA La Guarupaya Ecoreserve Program 2023-2024

It developed its first phase between 2022 and 2023, with the objective of generating appropriation of knowledge, allowing from the experience of the community, to understand the importance of conservation and transform the perception of the value of nature. Five Biomonitors (local residents) and 14 undergraduate and master's degree students participated in this phase. Biomonitors from the ASA Guarupaya Ecoreserve (Meta) and La Tribuna (Huila) shared methodologies and strategies for the collection, characterization and monitoring of biodiversity in the Ecoreserves. This allowed the activity to begin in ASA La Guarupaya, capitalizing on the experience and knowledge obtained in Huila.

 

Community and participatory monitoring

The participatory community monitoring strategy seeks that the communities, based on their local biodiversity needs, define the monitoring approach, establish goals or actions, times and methods for data collection, and tools that will allow them to analyze and interpret the results.

Articulation work results · Biomonitors · Ecoreserves Network 2023

The Ecoreseves Network, through the participatory community monitoring strategy, carried out activities such as the following: Meeting of biomonitors for the exchange of experiences, knowledge and techniques in the monitoring of various biological groups (lepidoptera, hymenoptera, hemiptera and coleoptera, among others) ("Biomonitors Tribuna" / ASA La Guarupaya). Reactivate sensitivity to nature and the ecosystem services it provides through biodiversity games aimed at schools and educational institutions in areas associated with Ecoreserves.   Transmit knowledge to the community, the business community and academia about the work carried out in the Ecoreserve. Raise awareness about biodiversity conservation.  Participation Biodiversity Panel in territory "Women leaders transforming the environmental future (ECONOVA and Universidad Santo Tomás de Villavicencio - Meta).

Participatory monitoring of the biodiversity in Vereda La Primavera, Acacías, Meta
The monitoring of the La Primavera trail oversaw evaluating what the toucans and butterflies of the trail need in order to increase their presence. This was done through the observation of these two species, where the community recorded with the help of field notebooks the data on the toucans and butterflies observed in their homes, school, and other areas of the village. The community participants had a workshop and a field trip to become familiar with and train in the observation of butterfly and toucan species, the filling out of the field forms, and the development of the proposed sampling methodologies. Data was obtained on the richness, feeding, and most frequent species of butterflies and toucans.
	Field notebook of participatory monitoring of toucans and butterflies in the Vereda La Primavera · Acacías, Meta.
	Participative monitoring of toucans and butterflies in Vereda La Primavera, Acacías, Meta.

Participatory monitoring of the biodiversity in Ciénaga and Caño San Silvestre, Campo Galán, Santander
The monitoring in the San Silvestre marsh and stream was carried out in order to know the state of these bodies of water, for this purpose: physicochemical parameters of the water, flow, temperature, presence or absence of manatees were evaluated and bocachicos were captured and measured. The participants from the community received different trainings to carry out the monitoring. Data were obtained on the richness, diet and most frequent species of manatees and bocachicos (freshwater fish).
	Field notebook of the participatory monitoring of biodiversity in Ciénaga and Caño San Silvestre · Campo Galán, Santander.
	Participative monitoring of biodiversity in Ciénaga and Caño San Silvestre, Campo Galán, Santander.

 

Expeditions - Use of Biodiversity - Genetics 

 

An adventure through territories of the Orinoquía, Huila and Magdalena Medio to identify, in the first place, plant species with potential uses that provide well-being to local communities and alternatives for economic development based on sustainable practices. Secondly, to discover microorganisms, fungi, plants or enzymes with the intention of placing them as healing agents in a previously altered ecosystem. 

Within the framework of the Fibers Agreement and in partnership between the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, Ecopetrol S.A., the University of los Andes and the University EAFIT, a catalogue of bacteria and fungi cultured from conventional and crude-enriched media, isolated from environmental substrates (soil, water and sediment) in two areas of Colombia - Piedmont-Orinoco and the Middle Magdalena - was constructed.

The expeditions carried out for its construction were carried out in two areas of interest or prioritized research nuclei by Ecopetrol S.A .: the Middle Magdalena, Santander, and Piedmont-Orinoco, Casanare. In each of these nuclei, sites were identified according to the level of landscape transformation and vulnerability to spills. Sample collection took place between March 12th and 18th, 2021.

Through the genetic characterization of the bacteria and fungi communities in soils, water and sediments, relevant information will be obtained allowing the estimation of their hydrocarbon biotransforming potential. More information at: http://humboldt.org.co/fibras/prensa/expediciones-genomicas.html.

This input will be key in the design and implementation of mitigation strategies in cases of oil spills. With the development of this component, the FIBRAS agreement will contribute to the strengthening of the use of genetic tools for environmental monitoring in the country. More information at: http://humboldt.org.co/fibras/componente4.html.

 

Knowledge generation in bioeconomy

 

The Humboldt Institute and Ecopetrol promote high-impact initiatives focused on research and development in bioeconomy and biosolutions; they also strengthen capacities in knowledge about sustainable uses of biodiversity in local communities in Huila, Orinoquía and Magdalena Medio. All this, from an integral view of the opportunities present in the natural capital, as a key element of social welfare and sustainable development, through academic spaces and collective knowledge construction (Bioeconomy):

• Virtual and on-site conferences,
• Virtual diploma course and meetings for dialogue and exchange of experiences.
• Regional seminars

	Fibras in Neiva Seminary
	Fibras in Yopal Seminary

 

TERRA Project · Study of CO₂ capture in natural sinks · Center for Innovation and Technology ICP

 

In partnership with universities, foundations, state institutions and research centers, Ecopetrol is leading the TERRA project, a research project that studies the ecology and carbon dynamics of Colombia's strategic ecosystems in climate adaptation. Currently, ecosystems such as Caribbean mangroves, Andean and Orinoquia forests, wetlands and productive agricultural systems are part of the scope of research.

Through research alliances, cutting-edge technology and the capabilities of the Center for Innovation and Technology (ICP), the technical basis is generated to propose to the Ecopetrol Group, and to the Country, Natural Climate Solutions initiatives that maximize efforts and investments in decarbonization and compensation.

This country-scale research project seeks to reduce uncertainty in carbon capture dynamics in natural systems, characterize valuable elements such as biodiversity in Climate Solutions, and generate new opportunities for Ecopetrol in its low-carbon energy company path.

• Find summaries and resources associated with the TERRA project here:

	Proyecto TERRA - Soluciones basadas en la naturaleza para la descarbonización.
	Estudio de Investigación TERRA - La tecnología como elemento de generación de valor para las SNC de Ecopetrol.

 

For more information see Strategic partners section.

 

 

 

 

 

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