THE National ARMY is facing the serious dangers suffered by the Sumapaz Páramo due to the possible presence of armed groups, the great agricultural activity, forest fires, deforestation and the need to protect unique species of flora and fauna, which due to the conditions of the climate live only at these heights.
Under this premise, EL NUEVO SIGLO spoke with General Rodolfo Morales Franco, commander of the Army’s Thirteenth Brigade, who pointed out that protecting Sumapaz, the largest wasteland in the world, is not an easy task because it is a very fragile area and any type of activity affects it.
THE NEW CENTURY: Was the foot of force increased to avoid the presence not only of the FARC dissidents, but also of other criminal groups?
GENERAL RODOLFO MORALES FRANCO: Within the framework of the Ayacucho Plan and in compliance with the Ezequiel Operational Plan ordered by the Army Commander to provide more security to the center of the country, the Fifth Division deployed more than 12,000 men in the limits of the departments of Cundinamarca, Meta, Huila, Tolima and Boyacá, in coordination with the Second and Fourth Division.
ENS: Do the dissidents intend to join Sumapaz?
GRMF: The main objective of this plan is to contain and prevent the expansion of organized armed groups that intend to enter Cundinamarca and, especially, Bogotá, developing military operations in the area of shared interest on the border of the jurisdiction.
ENS: How do you guarantee security in Sumapaz?
GRMF: These troops were destined to carry out unified land operations with the purpose of strengthening the security device in their former base areas and mobility corridors, as well as checkpoints in the road axes, which allow us to increase our presence in the region to protect the civilian population, guarantee governability and ensure critical infrastructure in the center of the country.
ENS: Is security strengthened in the center of the country?
GRMF: Army troops strengthen security in the center of the country, in order to facilitate the State’s social investment, promote community development, support the civil authority and the civilian population with comprehensive action activities.
ENS: How are the stability plans progressing?
GRMF: The High Mountain Battalion No. 1 “TC Antonio Arredondo”, carries out stability operations in the Sumapaz region, providing security to all its inhabitants and carrying out special environmental conservation work. In addition, it carries out support operations for the Defense of the Civil Authority in order to accompany the different actions carried out by both the local Sumapaz mayor’s office, as well as the different entities of the District, aimed at improving the quality of life of the inhabitants. In this way, we promote the development and progress of the communities that live in this important region that connects Cundinamarca and the capital of the country, with the departments of Meta, Huila, Tolima and Boyacá.
ENS: Is the Army the guardian of security and of the wasteland itself?
GRMF: The units of the Fifth Division develop different types of actions aimed at conserving the natural wealth of the center of the country, one of which is environmental education. However, in particular, the Thirteenth Brigade has 3 specialized nurseries to carry out environmental research and restoration of plant material thanks to its production capacity, including the frailejón species that occurs in high mountain ecosystems and is cultivated in these facilities, located in the High Mountain Battalion No. 1 of Sumapaz, the Instruction, Training and Retraining Battalion No. 13 in Usme, as well as high mountain species that germinate at the La Calera military base, belonging to the Mechanized Cavalry Group No. 10 “Tequendama”.
ENS: How is the stability work in the region?
GRMF: The soldiers of the Thirteenth Brigade carry out stability operations in Cundinamarca and especially the troops of the High Mountain Battalion No. 1 provide protection in the Sumapaz Páramo, being considered by its inhabitants as “The Guardians of the Páramo”, avoiding as much as possible the interference of man and its impact on that ecosystem.
ENS: Is the Sumapaz páramo in danger?
GRMF: The Sumapaz Páramo is the largest in the world and it is vitally important to understand that these ecosystems are not only sources of water, but also home to a great diversity of flora and fauna species, some of them endangered and that They are the objective of special protection by the Army.
In this sense, the Thirteenth Brigade has been working in coordination with environmental authorities such as the National Natural Parks of Colombia and the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca in the conservation of these ecosystems, through environmental education days for the inhabitants of the region, in order to counteract cattle ranching and extensive agriculture, among other phenomena that affect the natural wealth of Sumapaz.
ENS: Is strict control exercised?
GRMF: All these actions aimed at mitigating climate change were compiled and officially presented at the last version of the Bogota International Book Fair, in a publication entitled “Defensores del Medio Ambiente”, a detailed compilation of the work carried out by the soldiers of the Fifth Division on the protection of the country’s natural resources. In the same way, it is important to mention that monitoring and control is carried out in coordination with the National Natural Parks of Colombia, to ensure the care of the páramo and the water sources that the ecosystem presents.
ENS: How is reforestation progressing?
GRMF: In the case of the 13th Brigade, we permanently hold workshops in Bogotá and Cundinamarca in collaboration with the local mayors’ offices and environmental authorities, to guarantee the correct plant restoration process, especially in water sources.
In the Sumapaz Páramo, restoration processes have been carried out guided and accompanied by the environmental authority, guaranteeing conservation and seeking to recover the ecosystem that has been altered or degraded, to its original condition, or at least, to a state close to how It was before the damage was done.
ENS: How is the tree planting going?
GRMF: In 2022 alone, in different days we planted 270,451 trees of different species and so far in 2023 we have already planted 61,661 in Bogotá and Cundinamarca.
ENS: How is the Fauna protected?
GRMF: Our troops are the first to be trained in environmental protection and part of that effort consists of minimizing the impact produced by our presence as much as possible, such as recycling and avoiding contaminating the different ecosystems. Thanks to this work, we managed to support the care of many species ranging from hummingbirds and reptiles, to others considered as conservation values, such as the Andean or spectacled bear.
Within the processes of caring for the territory, the lines that care for the flora entails also go hand in hand with the conservation of fauna, taking into account that this is their habitat, which is why in the different plans and programs developed by the Army, these two axes go hand in hand and guarantee that there is no loss of biodiversity, in a country that is characterized by having this important ecosystem heritage.