Evaluación de multifuncionalidad como indicador de sostenibilidad del paisaje. Caso microcuencas abastecedoras de la cuenca alta del río Putumayo

Abstract

This research developed an evaluation of sustainability at a landscape scale in the upper Putumayo River basin, based on the proposal of a comprehensive non-compensatory aggregation model of multifunctionality indicators in which, according to a strong sustainability perspective, no function socioecological should compensate a low performance of another of equal importance for the landscape. The study was carried out in three phases. First, the characterization of the state of knowledge and scientific production in relation to the sustainability of the landscape, which show the main indicators reported in the literature, and their relationship with emerging properties that evaluate the functions of regulation, habitat, information, productivity and support of human activities. Second, the model for sustainability evaluation was formulated and the functionalities for four landscape units were identified based on the socio-ecological dynamics, specifically in the Hidráulica, Rio Putumayo, Siguinchica and Tamauca micro-basins. The third phase consisted of the characterization of the functions in relation to their causality and dependence, showing an important proportion of the area of the landscapes in medium and low values with respect to their functionality thresholds, resulting in low-medium sustainability. When comparing this assessment of multifunctionality with the POMCA restoration and protection management guidelines for these micro-watersheds, discrepancies of up to 16% are evident in the measure suggested by the instrument, regarding the need for landscape sustainability management. It is concluded that this exercise, more than a zoning of productive and conservation areas, aims to emphasize greater sustainability in the areas of coexistence of productive yields, well-being and biodiversity in the landscape. From a socio-ecological perspective, the valuation from the functionality that supports ecosystem services allows greater complexity to be incorporated into the characterization of the landscape, and avoids the risk of undervaluing or overvaluing particular functions that may have greater visibility, but that do not compensate the existence of other functions. Finally, it is concluded that the sustainability of a landscape does not depend on the weighting of its socio-ecological functions, but on an aggregation by non-compensatory subsets, that is, it is not possible to compensate the state of one function with another, but rather the output threshold of a regulation or support function, means that the other functions that depend on it are unsustainable, even when they are becoming evident at a moment in time in which they are characterized.