Valoración económica del servicio ambiental de provisión de agua del páramo andino ubicado en la zona contigua al Bosque Protector Cubilan, provincia del Cañar

Abstract

Páramo is a high mountain ecosystem that has a key role in the regulation and provision of the hydric resource, apart from assuring its quality. Activities like intensive livestock farming can deteriorate the regulation properties of the soil, and even it could increase the sediment load (Célleri, 2010). This project took place in the adjacent area of Bosque Protector Cubilán, in a study area of 804,96 ha, that includes in its majority grassland paramo that showed signs of livestock activity (Fundación ECOHOMODE, 2006). The economic value of the water provision service was calculated for the study area, with the methodology proposed by Barrantes & Vega (2001), the one that has been applied already in Ecuador by Castro (2011). For that purpose, first the extension of paramo was determined (391,8 ha) by means of the supervised classification of satellite images. Subsequently the water supply was estimated by the isohyetal method, utilizing registers of annual rainfall provided by the INAMHI for the 1981-2010 period; and finally, the cost of opportunity for livestock farming was estimated through a bibliographic revision. The value of water provision service for the study area was 0,052 $/m^3, and it was determined that it offers a good approximation to the real value, considering the one calculated by Castro in 2011 (0,03 $/m^3); however, there could be variations on this value if the cost of opportunity is obtained through surveys and if a more precise method is used to estimate the water supply.