La Loma, June 17, 2022
As part of its commitment to have a positive impact in its areas of influence, Drummond Ltd. shared information about its project to restock creeks with 225,000 bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae) fingerlings, a native species, with the communities near El Zorro Creek and Platanal Creek, in the jurisdiction of Agustin Codazzi and Becerril, in the Department of Cesar.
Present at the meeting were representatives of the National Authority for Aquaculture and Fishing (AUNAP), the Autonomous Regional Corporation of Cesar, (Corpocesar), the mayor of Becerril, the Municipal Council of Becerril, and the Fauna Caribe Foundation.
During the informational meeting led by Armando Calvano, Biodiversity and Compensation Manager at Drummond, the community heard about the objectives, the methodology, and the scope of the project.
“The communities have the right to know about the company’s process to compensate any impacts we may cause to the environment. The idea is that, together, we can undertake successful processes to conserve the environment,” stated Armando Calvano.
The bocachico restocking will be done as a measure to mitigate and compensate any possible changes in the fish population caused by the temporary diversion of the El Zorro Creek and the Platanal Creek, in compliance with Resolution No. 2838 of December 28, 2017. This species was selected because it is under threat of extinction and because it is important to the food and financial security of the region’s inhabitants.
“All the programs and projects have to be done with the communities and the communities need to know about them. So with this type of informative meeting, they are complying with Colombian regulations,” indicated Libardo Lascarro, Coordinator for Climate Change Management and Regional Planning at Corpocesar.
After the meetings, the beneficiary communities will receive training through a workshop called, “Restocking as a sustainable strategy, and best fishery practices.” And after that, the fingerlings will be released. After the release, the process will be evaluated through activities for follow-up and monitoring.
“We see this is an important scenario because it allows us to interact directly with the officials at the institutions and with Drummond, and to hear details about the projects, in particular this one, the restocking of bocachico. This is the path to having a closer, long-lasting, and transparent relationship,” said Juan Osorio, member of the community of La Guajirita.
Drummond Ltd. will continue to implement strategies for having a positive impact on communities, confirming, once again, that the company is a good neighbor to the municipalities in the mining corridor.