Abstract

PENUELA, Lourdes; FERNANDEZ, Andrea P  and  FUNDACION HORIZONTE VERDE. Livestock activity linked to conservation processes in the Orinoquias flood plains. Orinoquia [online]. 2010, vol.14, suppl.1, pp.5-17. ISSN 0121-3709.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Colombian Network Association of Nature Reserves of the Civil Society (Resnatur) and the Green Horizon Foundation (FHV), as part of a cooperation agreement from November 2007 to October 2009, have been working to support the development of cattle production linked to conservation processes on the flooded savannas of the Colombian Orinoquia. Through declaring new Nature Reserves of the Civil Society and conservation agreements we intend to improve productivity of the land implementing alternative technical proposals suitable for tropical conditions. This will contribute to optimize cattle management and productive indicators under flooded savannas conditions, coexisting with the existing biodiversity. The technical proposal intends to improve and keep traditional livestock production, improving local cattle production based on the natural pastures already available, adding multi-nutritional energy block supplementation during the dry season, pasture rotation using electric fences and an increase of forage biomass production. This strategy intends to avoid the transformation of the flooded savanna into other productive systems which may deteriorate environmental goods and services offered by the savanna, improving profitability of the local cattle production system. In two nature reserves established Paz de Ariporo, Casanare: "La Esperanza" y "La Gloria" biological inventories were made, pilot studies were developed, the management plans were formulated and the cost-benefit analysis related to the technical purpose were done evaluating animal protein consumption offered by the flooded savanna. Positive results were obtained with the alternative proposals tested; cattle productive system must raise 16 % of the birth rate for the system to be sustainable in the future and for the investment to be viable. The investment of the here proposed system is less than the costs of the landscape transformation and its maintainance. This productive proposal demonstrated that processes like the one developed during this cooperation agreement are an alternative to preserve regional strategic natural ecosystems, under the production-conservation approach.

Keywords : cattle; energetic block; flooded savannas; nature reserve; Paz de Ariporo.

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