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In our commitment to protect these ecosystems in our country, we have developed a sustainability initiative, which aims to protect 690 hectares of high Andean forest. This area of environmental protection, which we have named Renace Forest (The forest is born once again in Spanish)( Enel Colombia Natural Reserve) , which is located in the Soacha Municipality in the hydrographic basin of the Bogotá River, and that connects the ecosystems located in the mid and lower basins, among which Chicaque and La Poma parks stand out.
Since 2012 we have planted more than 30 thousand trees in the Renace Forest, because sustainability is a strategic pillar of our operations which goes hand in hand with the principle of generating shared value in the communities where we operate, as part of our companies’ activities. In this way we contribute to the recovery of this important ecosystem.
In the area, we work jointly with research entities in the promotion of a culture that protects the environment and thus recover the lower and middle basins of the Bogotá River, where the Companies have a presence. Among the main benefits that the Renace Forest provides to the area’s biodiversity, are:
Biodiversity
In Colombia, forests are not only a carbon sink, they are home to 55,000 species of animals and plants. These offer great an ecological diversity that positions our country among the first nations with the highest number of species of plants, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles.
Renace Forest offers a safe habitat for more than 250 species of fauna and flora such as bats, eagles, butterflies, opossums, the common squirrel and the sloth. We have identified 18 species in the forest, classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, such as: vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered and nearly threatened.
In terms of flora, since 2012 we have planted trees belonging to different native species, including oaks and oreopanax bogotensis (bear hands in Spanish), they have been planted by our workers and their families, customers, student groups, research entities and social foundations. We have also identified vulnerable species such as Palma Boba (a type of fern) which is considered a living fossil, and the black Inca hummingbird an endemic species of the region.
Renace Forest is a powerful project that implies great challenges. In order to truly protect, we carry out voluntary and mandatory sowing days as compensation for our companies’ activities. Likewise, since the start of this initiative, the workers, their families and other groups of interest, have trekked together with more than two thousand visitors the 6 kilometers of ecological trails, and participated in educational and environmental awareness days. Visitors can enjoy the view overlooking the waterfall’s house and Tequendama’s geological fault.
Together, we will continue to build and improve this most important environmental heritage so we can bequeth it to future generations. A space to conserve life and to breathe a pure air.