Recuperación de Servicios Ecosistémicos de Áreas Afectadas por el Aluvión de 2012 en la Microcuenca Santa Cruz, Huaylas, Ancash

Mountain ecosystems are spaces of great  importance for humanity because of the ecosystem services they provide and, at the same time, they are vulnerable and fragile in the face of climate change. The Cordillera Blanca, located in the department of  Ancash, is representative of this context. In 2012, the Santa Cruz microbasin, located in this mountain range, was affected by a flood due to over-saturation of the moraine dam of Lake Artizon Bajo. This flood affected the livelihoods of the downstream population. The main services, such as water for human consumption and economic activities, were immediately rehabilitated. However, 236 ha of important ecosystems of the microbasin were lost. This loss has influenced the quality of ecosystem services for water regulation due to the alteration of  water quality, in cultural ecosystem services due to the  reduction of the landscape quality of the microbasin, and in the provision of food for livestock. These areas need to be recovered and, for this, INAIGEM, with the participation of the local population, has developed actions to generate social and technical processes towards the recovery of the affected services. In this initial phase, two representative plots of 15 and 20 ha have been installed to investigate environmental and social processes of recovery and conservation of ecosystems and contribute to the sustainability of ecosystem services.