Sunday January 30, 2011 Environment
marshes Extensions depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters, wetlands, natural water-covered surfaces or artificial, permanent or temporary, static or flowing, fresh or salt, these are wetlands. This is defined in the Convention on Wetlands or Ramsar, signed on February 2, 1971 on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
Since then, on 2 February each year is remembered as the International Wetlands Day. Ecosystems that act as regulators of water supply for large populations and agricultural activities, such as regulation of global climate change through the storage of a large proportion of fixed carbon in the biosphere, thanks to the predominant vegetation, the wetlands act as absorbent pads, among other key roles in the stability of ecosystems.
In late December, Eco Science Foundation released the final report of its project on economic valuation of Andean wetlands, a seven-month investigation in establishing the role of wetlands as an environmental service, and this is attributed economic value. Adriana
Flachi, project manager, says it is quite difficult to assign a figure "services" provided by nature, but they did it to raise awareness about the important work that these ecosystems provide. This research
taken as study points Oña-system-Saraguro-Yacuambi Nabón between Azuay, Loja and Zamora Chinchipe, and the front southwest of Tungurahua.
In the first study area of \u200b\u200b218 hectares, what would it cost an artificial construct (reservoir) to regulate the river water? The paper reports that the cost would be $ 696.9 thousand per year, ie, $ 3,196.8 per hectare. But this is a job that wetlands provide it free wilderness.
In the same space, How much would catch the same amount of soil carbon trap pads? Cost $ 13,340.62 per acre, or $ 2.9 million. Environmental services that these green sheets also provide at no cost.
In the second study area of \u200b\u200b1,971 hectares in the province of Tungurahua, the economic value of environmental services of water supply amounts to $ 196.4 thousand per year, while the liquid storage service reaches $ 6.5 million, ie $ 3299.2 per hectare.
Almost 2,000 hectares of wetlands, what would it cost to match the carbon sequestration? Service until now provided by nature would cost $ 7,787.3 per hectare. A total of $ 15.3 million, according to Eco Science Foundation Project, which also made the comparison of the absorption capacity of water and wetland carbon and not undergoing surgery.
the 11 provinces of the Sierra Andean wetlands are located 59, 36 and 23 inmates mainframes. Among all add 661,309 hectares, considering their water supply watersheds.
With so many wetlands and the best features that arguably have the amount of water in rivers is right and that carbon dioxide levels are quite low, but highly sensitive ecosystems are more vulnerable to environmental degradation and climate change effects. Flachi
explains that these environments are under pressure by invasive activities such as livestock, which compacts the soil, the agricultural frontier expansion, which includes drainage, pollution by chemicals and waste disposal, construction of roads and dams, that affect ecosystem functions and social functions of wetlands, among other factors.
The research also compares the efficiency of surgery and no surgery environments. The system is not involved in Ona-Nabón-Saraguro-Yacuambi in Loja reflected retain moisture 87.45%, on average. Meanwhile, a site operated by livestock, Tungurahua southwestern front, only keeps moisture 60.8%, on average, lost the ability to store water.
In order to reach the authorities, reflecting the environmental value in dollars, Eco Science Foundation, with support from the Ministry of Environment, Technical University of Loja and Wetland International Foundation, extol these complex, diverse and important ecosystems wet. Recognition
According
website Ministry of Environment, Ecuador has thirteen recognized as Ramsar wetlands, ie internationally important among these are the Cajas National Park, in Azuay Machalilla National Park, in Manabi Santay Island, in Guayas, the Laguna de Cube, in Esmeraldas, among others.
The latter, located within the Reserva Ecológica Mache Chindul, received the 2010 Wetlands International Green Globe in the category: Best practices for wetland restoration.
This award is a tribute to the management of the Laguna de Cube and its inhabitants, who carry out various initiatives to conserve this place both for their ecological and hydrological values \u200b\u200bof.
Cube Lagoon was declared a Ramsar Site in 2002, under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, and its environs is home to a wide variety of plants, birds, amphibians and reptiles. In addition, the area is a natural reservoir of water to control flooding in the lowlands.
On the site, the Conservation International Foundation, El Kaim and Jatun Sacha, through the implementation of reforestation projects, education, environmental sanitation and community-based ecotourism activities, trying to strengthen the organizational capacity of the inhabitants of the area.
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