Environment Ministry revokes the definitive reserve of the Amazon biome for omitting prior consultation

The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development revoked in its entirety Resolution 0961 of 2026, which had declared the Colombian Amazon biome as a reserve of renewable natural resources and the environment on a definitive basis over an approximate area of 483,283.55 km². The measure is contained in Resolution 1405 of 2026, signed by Minister Fabio Arjona Hincapié on October 23 and published in Official Gazette number 53,670 on October 26, 2026, and nullifies the exclusions to new mining and hydrocarbon concessions that had their exclusive source in that regulation.

The revocation was adopted based on numeral 1 of article 93 of Law 1437 of 2011 (CPACA), which orders the removal of administrative acts from the legal framework when their opposition to the Constitution or the law is manifest. Resolution 0961 of 2026 had been issued on August 4, 2026, and published in Official Gazette number 53,577 on August 5, 2026.

The scope of the revoked act is equivalent to approximately 42.3% of the Colombian continental territory. According to cartographic information from the SINCHI Amazon Institute of Scientific Research, the biome comprises about 48,328,355 hectares. The regulatory project had undergone public consultation between September 26 and October 12, 2025, with 16 interested parties and 150 comments received, of which 77 were accepted and 73 were not.

The flaw: a prior consultation that had not concluded

The Ministry concluded that the resolution was adopted before the required consultative process was completed. The Directorate of the National Prior Consultation Authority had determined the appropriateness of prior consultation through filing 2025-2-002410-044834 on October 9, 2025, and identified 566 ethnic communities within the analysis area.

• With indigenous peoples, the process culminated with the protocolization of the session on July 19 and 20, 2026, within the framework of the Amazon Regional Table.
• With Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal, and Palenquera Communities, the pre-consultation was convened through filing 2026-2-002420-034127 and the meeting was held on July 1 and 2, 2026, in Villa Garzón (Putumayo).
• According to the minutes, the methodological route was not agreed upon nor was the opening stage completed; therefore, as of August 4, 2026, the procedure remained unfinished.

The Ministry specified that article 13 of Resolution 0961 of 2026, which deferred the effects of the reserve over collective territories until the completion of the consultation, did not make a pending procedure “prior.” Article 46 of the CPACA establishes prior consultation as a prerequisite for the validity of the administrative decision.

What falls and what remains in effect

In addition to the declaration of reserve, mining and hydrocarbon exclusions that were based solely on the revoked resolution are rendered legally void. The act specifies that prohibitions and restrictions of a different origin are not affected, including:

• National Natural Parks (8,886,114 hectares) and Regional Natural Parks (119,917 hectares).
• Natural Reserves (1,973,193 hectares), National Protective Forest Reserves (108,951 hectares), and Regional ones (853 hectares).
• RAMSAR Wetlands (292,874 hectares), páramos and subpáramos (99,501 hectares), and natural resource reserves under Article 47 of Decree Law 2811 of 1974 (299,938 hectares).
• Forest Reserves of Law 2 of 1959 (20,750,141 hectares), where activity is restricted.

The resolution emphasizes that nearly 22.9% of the Amazon region belongs to the National System of Protected Areas and that indigenous reserves cover approximately 26.8 million hectares, nearly 55% of the region. The orders of judgment STC-4360 of 2018 from the Supreme Court of Justice regarding deforestation also remain in full force. The effects apply prospectively, without affecting consolidated legal situations.

Request from the mining sector, tutela, and nullity lawsuits

The decision resolved the request for direct revocation submitted by the Association of Professionals of the Colombian Mining Sector (APMC) via filing 2026E1045189 on August 19, 2026, supported by BIOTERRITORIO – Environmental Sustainability Consultancy for the Mining-Energy Sector. The Ministry clarified that the basis was identified ex officio and not through the objections of the applicants.

Previously, Manuel Hoyden González Ossa had filed a tutela before the 805th Transitional Family Court of Bogotá, filing 11001-31-10-805-2026-00644-00; the ruling of September 29, 2026, denied the protection. Likewise, two nullity lawsuits were filed before the Council of State, First Section, without an admission order having been notified to date, a condition that enables revocation according to Article 95 of the CPACA.

The act orders that the decision be communicated to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Mining Agency (ANM), the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), the Colombian Geological Service, the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA), SINCHI, National Natural Parks, the Directorate of the National Authority for Prior Consultation, the Public Ministry, the regional autonomous corporations, and the territorial entities, so that they may adjust their information systems.

The withdrawal of the reserve reopens access to new mining and hydrocarbon concessions in a strip covering nearly 42% of the continental territory, but shifts to a future administrative action the burden of reconstructing a protection measure with the appropriate legal instrument and completed prior consultation. For ethnic communities and extractive operators, the immediate effect is one of regulatory uncertainty: pre-existing environmental protection remains intact, while the legal framework will require repeating the missing procedure.

Source: Official Gazette, number 53,670, October 26, 2026, section I, p. 16 (official reference: Resolution 1405 of 2026, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development).