Evaluación económica ambiental del recurso suelo en la Parroquia Rural Bilbao del Cantón Penipe, Provincia de Chimborazo

Abstract

The objective of this study was to economically and environmentally evaluate the soil resource in the Bilbao rural parish of the Penipe canton in the Chimborazo province. Field trips characterized the current state of the soil resource through the communities that make up the parish, and physical, chemical and biological analyzes of cultivated, pasture and forest soil samples was carried out. The area was georeferenced to establish sampling points and make thematic maps using the ArcGIS program. Subsequently, sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, number of household members, occupation, income and economic expenses were selected, which affected the perception of ecosystem services, obtaining 13 relevant services, which were rated with the help of surveys by 43 people. The processing of data and evaluation of results applied a statistical analysis T-test and Anova to know the significance of sociodemographic variables based on ecosystem services. It was evidenced that the bestevaluated service was the provisioning service, with a value of 9.78 out of 10, and the least-valued service was the cultural service, with a value of 7.91 out of 10. The weighted average of ecosystem services was 8.45 out of 10, a value considered high in importance according to the Likert scale used in this study. It was concluded that $ 1712758.23 was the total economic value that could be allocated for the management and care of the soil resource of the Bilbao rural parish, for which it is recommended to link to the GAD parish so that they know the results of this work and be the basis for planning strategies that counteract losses in agricultural activity and reduce the negative environmental impact that occurs on this resource.