A method to rebuild vegetation formations to determinate environmental damage

Juan José Sáez
2018 Foresic Research & Criminology International Journal  
In Chile the environmental damage is regulated by the law No. 19,300, where it is designated that all the negligent or that willfully cause damage to the environment, will be obliged to repair it materially, at their cost, if this possible, and compensate it. Within the environmental damage there is the destruction of native vegetation, only by itself, the cutting of vegetation in Chile does not constitute an act of environmental damage, there must be aggravating circumstances that cause such
more » ... mage. If the flora component is affected, scientific and systematic reconstruction is needed to be able to evaluate the existence of environmental damage. The present case falls within a process of reconstitution of affected vegetation formations to determine the surface and type of plants intervened and, finally, an assessment of the environmental damage. A field survey was carried out where the "Carta de Ocupación de Tierras" (COT) methodology was applied. This methodology consists of establishing the quantitative aspects of the vegetal architecture, being able to determine the vegetal community. This methodology was applied in the sector adjacent to the intervention area, which is used as a reference environment. Our findings determined that the intervention area is formed by 5 communities corresponding to an intervention of 5.9 ha and 87 species. No species considered to be threatened were identified as being cut, discarding the occurrence of environmental damage.
doi:10.15406/frcij.2018.06.00202 fatcat:yzew3dobhje5vhlhteckt7uhqm