The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (hereinafter "MADS") has published for comments the Draft Resolution intended to regulate Law 2173 of 2021, by which Life Areas were created and the obligation was imposed on medium and large companies to carry out national tree planting programs. The Draft Resolution includes the criteria and tools necessary to identify, create, and delimit Áreas de Vida by municipal authorities in coordination with environmental authorities and outlines the benefits that will be granted to companies participating in the tree planting program as indicated in the aforementioned Law.

According to the Draft Resolution, the Áreas de Vida are those zones defined and designated by municipalities for restoration through tree planting, contributing to the restoration of ecosystems whose vegetation cover has been affected.

Within three months following the issuance of the Draft Resolution, municipal authorities must define the Áreas de Vida located within their jurisdiction. For this, they must issue an administrative act that includes the cartographic information of the Areas and the technical guidelines constructed with the environmental authority that gave rise to such a declaration.

The Draft Resolution indicates that municipalities:

• Must invite general citizens to nominate their property for the creation of the Áreas de Vida in such territory.
• May create benefits or deductions in property tax for properties where these areas are created.

Environmental authorities must support municipalities in creating Áreas de Vida considering:

• The guidelines of the National Restoration Plan and the National Restoration Strategy 2023–2026.
• Technical components such as: (i) obtaining plant material; (ii) species to establish; (iii) floristic designs; and (iv) monitoring and its periodicity.

Medium and large companies will have the possibility to comply with the tree planting program established in Article 6 of Law 2173 of 2021 in the Áreas de Vida delimited by the municipalities. For this, they must propose planting programs to be approved by the environmental authority, which must include, among others, the following requirements:

1. Identification of the Area.
2. Description of the intervention Area.
3. Objectives and scope of the planting program.
4. Follow-up, maintenance, and monitoring strategy.

Companies are obliged to present the planting programs to the environmental authority within the following 2 months counted from the date on which municipalities delimit the Áreas de Vida located in their jurisdiction. 

To determine the total number of trees to be planted in the Áreas de Vida, the company's legal representative must present a certification to the municipal or district authority indicating the total number of employees. According to the Draft Resolution, once the planting program is submitted, the environmental authority must evaluate and approve the document within at least 45 working days. Only once approved by the environmental authority can the company begin its implementation.

The Draft Resolution proposes alternatives when the corresponding Área de Vida has "limited space available for planting" without considering scenarios where municipal authorities do not identify or declare Áreas de Vida. On the other hand, the Draft Resolution is not clear regarding whether the tree planting program could be outsourced or if it must be carried out by the employees of the medium or large company.

In addition, the timelines established in the Draft Resolution for the identification, declaration of these Areas, presentation of the planting program, and its approval by the environmental authority do not seem to consider the reality of municipal, district, and regional and local environmental authorities.

Finally, once the obligations outlined in Law 2173 of 2021 are fulfilled, municipal or district authorities will be responsible for issuing "Corporate Life Planting" certificates to legal entities that comply with their obligations to certify compliance with the cited law.

This Draft Resolution is of vital importance for medium and large companies, who will have to implement the tree planting obligation in the "Life Areas" and bear all the costs that this entails, according to the number of employees they have in the previous year, an obligation that is annual, and therefore will represent a significant cost for them.

If you have any questions regarding the Draft Resolution, its impact on your organization, or require assistance in formulating comments, do not hesitate to contact the Environment and Sustainable Business team.