Economic valuation of sustainable wetland management in Peru

The following research had as an object to obtain the economic value of the benefits that become from the sustainable management of the AGUAJE (Mauritia flexuosa).

The Aguaje is the Amazon palm tree that has the most economical, social and environmental importance in Peru. Although, the culture of the Amazon towns on the harvest of this fruit is made by slash of the whole palm tree, which generates a negative impact on the reproduction of these species and erodes genetic. At the community of Parinari, inside de RESERVA NACIONAL PACAYA SAMIRIA, where there are almost a million ha. of "AGUAJALES", the harvest of the aguajes is made with a new method, which is, the climbing of the palm tree with an element called "subidor", and this method permits to obtain the best of the approximately 40 years of production that usually these palm trees have.

The benefits obtained for economical value of direct use, allows to have the real economical impact due to the biggest quantity of product and species of the biological diversity.

As pioneer research work, inside the economical value of indirect use, have been determined that the "aguajales" ecosystems are the ones that have the most quantity of carbon reserve, this is the opportunity to establish a big alternative to implement environment service payments.

To try to capture the real economical values of the non use, using the Contingent Valuation Method, is clear that the problems on theirs application and found bias of this technique could have their origin in the economic rationality of all the persons that were interviewed or social groups which were objects of this analysis.

Wagner Guzman Castillo M.Sc.
Dr. Candidate Universidad Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, España
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana, IIAP.
Iquitos-Perú
www.iiap.org.pe