Propuesta para la definición de zonas de amortiguamiento de áreas protegidas: caso de estudio - Parque Nacional Podocarpus

Abstract

Abstract: Buffer zones are important elements in the management of protected areas, since they counteract the anthropic pressures towards these territories destined for conservation. In Ecuador, there is a lack of technical methodology for delimiting these zones, which has generated socio-environmental conflicts and also causes pressures, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, habitat fragmentation and introduction of exotic species. In this work, the Podocarpus National Park has been taken as a study zone, due to its ecological and social importance for the region. With this territorial framework, a methodology has been proposed based on the use of components, criteria and variables, both physical and social, oriented to the technical delimitation of its buffer zone, which currently has an area of 125.900 ha. The present proposal has generated a buffer of 272.759 ha as a result of the combination of different physical, social, economic and legal variables previously validated in other protected areas.