Estudio de impacto ambiental del turismo en los sitios de visita del complejo de humedales y muro de las lágrimas, Isla Isabela, provincia de Galápagos.

Abstract

This research aimed to carry out an environmental impact study of tourism in the touristic places of Complejo de Humedales y Muro de las Lágrimas Resort on Isabela Island, Galapagos province. An environmental diagnosis of Puerto Villamil was carried out, being the closest populated center to the attraction, for which the 5-star methodology was used. This methodology describes the areas: physical - spatial, socio - cultural, ecological - territorial, economic – productive, and political – administrative. An inventory of tourist attractions within the complex was also carried out through the file for the survey and ranking of tourist attractions proposed by the Ministry of Tourism. Once the analysis was concluded, the main sources of impact and the affected socio-environmental components were identified to apply an Environmental Impact Assessment through the matrix proposed by Lázaro Lago Pérez. This matrix identifies, describes, and evaluates the environmental impacts through 9 evaluation criteria. Once the identification, description and evaluation matrix were completed, each one of the negative and positive impacts was quantified to obtain the corresponding level of significance and thus be able to propose environmental management measures that mitigate or compensate for the damage caused by mentioned impacts. The results showed that 13 touristic places were identified in the resort, as well as 12 tourism activities that cause impact, and 7 affected socio-environmental components. In addition, it was established that the negative impacts have a higher degree of affectation than the positive ones with a level of significance of 56.24%, for which 7 environmental management measures were proposed. It was concluded that tourism is a source of significant impact within Complejo de Humedales y Muro de las Lágrimas Resort. It is recommended to put into practice each of the proposed environmental management measures.