Analysis of environmental feasibility for mining in Sogamoso, Boyacá

Abstract

According to the national development plan, mining is one of the fundamental pillars of the Colombian economy; which undoubtedly poses environmental challenges for local authorities. This paper presents a spatial analysis of the abiotic, biotic and sociocultural components to evaluate the viability of the mining activity. The variables of the abiotic type were: natural threats, agronomic capacity, groundwater and surface waters. Sociocultural variables included: roads, public service delivery systems, areas with public facilities, areas of cultural or archaeological interest, and human settlements. The biotic component was addressed with the InVest habitat quality model; considering the coverages of the soil according to the classification Corine Land Cover adapted for Colombia and the points of sampling of flora and fauna arranged in the platform of the System of Biodiversity of Colombia. Through the application of hierarchical analysis the weighted overlapping of variables was advanced to classify the territory into three categories of environmental management: exclusion, intervention with restrictions and intervention. The proposed methodology was applied in the municipality of Sogamoso, which is characterized to hold mineral exploitations such as coal, phosphoric rock, among others. The results allowed identifying areas with different territorial conflicts that must be analyzed to implement programs and projects that allow them to be minimized or eliminated. In this way, spatial analysis allows mining operators, environmental authorities and the community in general to articulate efforts to maintain the levels of the regional economy by minimizing adverse environmental effects.