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The Colombian constitutional court has ordered the revocation of the mining licenses in its páramo areas, the moorlands of the Andes Mountains above the tree line, but below the permanent snow line.

Hence, the government's National Development Plan, that in 2014 banned new mining licenses but not the existing 347 contracts has been expanded, said Colombia Reports.

The Colombian páramos are situated between 9,850ft and 16,500ft, points out the BBC.

All mining activity seems to have been nullified here, with Article 173 of the National Development Plan, which challenged the earlier mining operations. They have been halted by environmental activists and the left-leaning opposition party, the Polo Democrático.

"First life, and then business," Polo Democrático member Alirio Uribe Muñoz said on Monday, after the announcement.

The court has ruled that mining for gold and oil in the mountain ecosystems might also damage the mountains.

With the nation's cities relying on the páramos as a major water supply, the ruling is a fresh breath of air for the biodiversity and ecosystems of the nation, according to Latin Correspondent. By collecting water from rain and mists and creating a filtration system as well as storing water, the nation's delicate environmental balance is slated to get a fillip.