MLR’s contribution to the International Day of Action for Rivers

March 14 of each year marks the International Day of Action for Rivers. This anniversary was proposed by the participants of the first International Meeting of People Affected by Dams held in March 1997 in Curitiba (Brazil). At that meeting, representatives from 20 countries decided that the International Day of Action would be March 14, which is the Day of Action against Large Dams in Brazil.

Since then the objective of this day was to recover the well-being of the watersheds and demand equitable and sustainable management of rivers. MLR Forestal shows every day its commitment to these objectives because its conservation areas are crossed by the Prinzapolka, Ulí, Matis and Sucio rivers. These water sources are given special protection not only with the conservation areas and plantations themselves, but with the ecological restoration plan.

The ecological restoration plan carried out by MLR Forestal is focused on accelerating the regeneration of natural environments for the protection of biodiversity and water bodies.

Objective: to convert the water network into a mechanism of biological connectivity

“This is about planting trees as a structure to regenerate an entire food chain and an ecological community that will give you environmental services after about three, four, five years,” explains ecologist Fabio Buitrago, in charge of the project.

The environmental services to which Buitrago refers are:

• Soil retention against erosion
• Increased infiltration of water into the subsoil
• Permanence of surface water even in the driest months
• Temperature regulation
• Increasing biodiversity

All of the above will allow the water network to become one of the main mechanisms of biological connectivity between properties and between them and nearby forest areas.

The connection to the International Day of Action for Rivers

“The main form of connectivity between the protection areas will be through the rivers and their riparian vegetation included in the protection zones. There are four micro-basins in the area of MLR properties: the micro-basin of the Mutiwas, Waspado, Labu rivers and the banks of the Prinzapolka rivers. It will be through these four conservation arteries that it is proposed to interconnect the wooded areas of the work area and the surrounding forests, “said Buitrago.

In this sense, the ecological restoration plan and the entire vision of MLR Forestal is directly related to this anniversary. The ecological restoration plan is in the execution phase and aims to reforest 550 hectares of severely degraded land over the next 10 years.