Handling of avifauna as part of the management of urban trees in Bogota, D. C.

Abstract

The urbanization process of Bogota has a direct impact on tree cover, because construction projects prioritize logging instead of transplant, and their landscape projects do not generate sufficient compensation. The progressive reduction of green spaces and trees, diminish the necessary habitats for the birds. In the management of the urban trees that includes activities of planting, pruning, transplant and logging, the city applies procedures to reduce its impact on avifauna. Its environmental authority has generated information to expand knowledge and allow understanding of the dynamics between trees and urban birds, which serves as a basis to analyze the efficiency of its action, both in the birdlife management procedure and in the design and selection of species in new tree plantings. This article shows statistics from a review of avifauna management final reports in various infrastructure projects and the work’s results of a study prepared between the District Department of Environment –sda– and the Bogota’s Ornithology Association –abo–, in which technical criteria are formulated for the ecological connectivity with emphasis on bird conservation and consolidation of restoration processes in the city’s main ecological structure.