Valoración económica de los servicios ecosistémicos asociados al carbono orgánico en los bofedales y los recursos hídricos de la Reserva de Producción de Fauna Chimborazo.

Abstract

The present research proposes: to determine the economic valuation of the ecosystem services associated with organic carbon in the wetlands of the Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve; where a characterization of these services was carried out through the identification of the information variables giving as a result, that in the protected area there are 16 wetlands and two types of water reservoirs that provide immersive ecosystem services to the local population are of provision and mainly of regulation. After that, its economic value was estimated utilizing the contingent valuation method where 620 interviews were applied to the inhabitants who make use of the services and thus know their perception of the payment provision for the conservation of these, Also, a LOGIT probabilistic regression model was performed that determined a hypothetical value of $ 0.98 for families with low income and S 1.31 for families with stable income having an annual amount of $ 471,672.29 that would serve as collective savings to opt for measures or tools to preserve the wetlands and water resources. Finally, guidelines were established for their use through the identification of threats from the wetlands and water resources to then propose structured projects through a logical system, which determined the actors that could contribute technically or economically, resulting in 5 projects; CEPA, PSE, Ecological Restoration, Tourism Use and Waste Treatment giving a total budget of $ 1,633,238.80 with a term of 7 years, which will also be provided with 29% for the annual amount determined. Where it is concluded that the economic valuation allowed the implementation of strategies for the compensation, education, and conservation of the ecosystem services associated with the organic carbon of the wetlands and water resources of the Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve.