Conservación socioambiental del humedal El Resbalón del municipio de Cota-Cundinamarca: percepciones de la comunidad educativa del instituto Parcelas.

Abstract

A Wetland is a strategic ecosystem that provides a range of services. That is why they are currently the core of studies related to conservation and sustainable use. In this way, the changes that are experienced in these ecosystems are directly or indirectly associated to the human settlement, their distribution patterns, as well as its exploitation and sustainability. Some of the factors that intervene in the wetland’s transformation are desiccation, ecological fragmentation and resource exploitation, which produce a biodiversity lost, a resources reduction and an increase of tensioners towards the provision of ecosystem services. For these reasons, and based on the work done in the research project Identifying limnologic ecosystem services in El Resbalón wetland as a conservation strategy by Santo Tomas University (USTA), this study took place in order to know the Parcelas school community’s perceptions about the conservation of this wetland due to its proximity to this place. In this study, it was used a mixed research methodology, which implies collecting, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data in order to get a better study understanding [1]. Moreover, the Véster Matrix was used [2] since this instrument helps to identify a problem with a higher impact. In this research, it was established the effect on the Resbalón wetland quality of life as the main issue and its causes and consequences were identified. The research findings revealed the participants perceptions about this problematic situation, their ownership, the sustainable use of the ecosystem and the actions that need to be performed in order to foster El Resbalón wetland conservation.