Reforestation versus natural regeneration in the restoration for loss of coverage in a gasoduct of the Amazon

Morales C.A.; Espinoza A.M.G.; Venero C.D.; Farfan A.J.; Salinas I.; Torres M.; Panta M.; Sánchez N. · Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability 2020, HSE and Sustainability 2020 (2020)

Resumen

As part of the environmental commitments assumed in the EIA of the South Area Development Project of the Kinteroni South Area consisting of two sections, revegetation activities are being developed in this area from 2014 to the present. Semiannual on-site evaluations have been carried out, using 0.1 ha plots, which were distributed in the Right of Way (ROW), in order to measure the success of mitigating the impact of the construction of the gas pipeline on the forest. The recovery percentage of reforested plants, natural regeneration plants and canopy height was mainly analyzed. As for the contribution of natural regeneration, an increase over time of approximately 80% of existing plants is observed. In the case of reforested plants, the trend is inverse, reaching a low representativeness that varies from 14.72% to 5.04% (section I) and 11.32% to 5.01% (section II). While in the case of the average height of the trees (reforested and entered by natural regeneration), there is a positive trend for section I of 0.97 m to 3.06 m and 0.96 m to 4.14 m for section II. Results that indicate that the vegetation emergent by natural regeneration, presents greater success at the level of revegetation in relation to the reforested plants, due to the proximity of the trees contributing seeds; while the low success of the reforested species would be related to the high level of stress to which they are subjected, being the intensity of light and characteristics of the species (heliophytes and esciophytes), which would influence the percentage of survival. It is concluded that the level of forest recovery along the ROW is good, being the natural regeneration of the plants that has contributed to it. Pioneer species with relatively high dominance such as "keto", "guava" and "topa" are presented as the best adapted to the physical conditions of the habitat and therefore revegetation activities, which would be guaranteeing the initial recovery of the forest forming the protective canopy for durable heliophytes to happen. This paper seeks to contribute to the design of revegetation programs in hydrocarbon projects in the Amazon, considering natural regeneration activities, simulating natural clearings, as a viable alternative to the recovery of these forests.