Page 28 - 2020 Sustainability Report - Gran Tierra Energy

Perspective from Corpoamazonia
Corpoamazonia is the presiding regional environmental authority that oversees environmental management in Colombia’s Amazonia region.
“GTE is a strategic ally in protecting the biodiversity of Amazonia. The company’s support has been critical in helping us achieve many of our goals. For two years, we have focused on a broad strategy
of forestry control, management and restoration, for which NaturAmazonas has been the best project we could ever have. It is making a really positive impact on flora and fauna in strategically important places, but also for the lives
of the people in local communities who will make this process sustainable.
The company’s ability to connect its
legal requirements and voluntary commitments with our general strategy at Corpoamazonia has made a big impact in the area. It’s excellent to see that other local companies are beginning to follow GTE’s lead in connecting compensation with conservation.
GTE’s Costayaco Forestry Centre, feline and Chawar projects are great examples of this strategic alignment. All the studies for the feline project were carried out because of a compensation requirement, but the work is being done through a conservation approach and will connect with other efforts that contribute to
the conservation corridors. The results have been marvellous - we’ve seen
an amazing reemergence of species once again using these corridors.”
Sidaly Ortega, Deputy Director, Corpoamazonia
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The Chawar Project – Using Technology
to Protect the Environment
The Chawar Project, completed in 2019 in partnership with Colombia’s Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, is a powerful tool that helps GTE make decisions that reduce the social and environmental impacts of well exploration and development projects.
Chawar incorporates a wide range of data sets into a powerful technology platform that allows GTE to minimize its footprint, design smarter environmental mitigation and compensation strategies, reduce forest fragmentation and protect environmentally significant areas.
Chawar was immediately applied to
the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Cumplidor North development project, which requires a licence to operate in an environmentally important and biodiverse region connecting the Andes mountain range to the Amazon rainforest. The Chawar project is constantly evolving and will become a more powerful tool. It can also map out the company’s voluntary environmental investments to maximize their benefit to specific areas as well as broader regions.
“Connecting different projects can significantly increase their combined and lasting impact. This is important to us because our goal is not just to comply
with regulations, but to be understood as a company that leaves no long-term impact and helps the regional and national environmental protection agencies achieve their objectives.”
Olga Lucia Casañas Suarez, Leader, Forestry Compensation