Desafío
El agua sustenta todos los beneficios que proporcionan los ecosistemas, especialmente la producción agrícola. La disponibilidad de agua, tanto en términos de cantidad como de calidad, está fuertemente influenciada por el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas y, por lo tanto, la comprensión del nexo entre agua y ecosistemas y sus servicios relacionados con la agricultura es fundamental para gestionar la seguridad hídrica y alimentaria.
El agua da soporte a una amplia gama de servicios ecosistémicos: servicios de aprovisionamiento de agua potable y alimentos, de regulación del clima, del ciclo del agua y la erosión, de soporte de la biodiversidad, o culturales. Se proponen enfoques de gestión basados en el concepto de servicios ecosistémicos en una variedad de contextos hídricos; incluyendo la adaptación al cambio climático basada en el agua, la gestión de cuencas y cuencas hidrográficas y la gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos
El desafío en este ámbito radica en poder evaluar y valorar los servicios del ecosistema en el contexto de la gestión del agua. Para el diseño de políticas y la priorización de inversiones es necesario evaluar los beneficios de la conservación y restauración de cuencas hidrográficas. Estos beneficios deben cuantificarse en términos biofísicos y económicos, para el servicio del ecosistema y la escala espacial de interés.
Enfoque FutureWater
El enfoque FutureWater para valorar los servicios de los ecosistemas relacionados con el agua consiste en una evaluación integral de diferentes escenarios a través de la simulación y análisis de flujos hídricos, y su interpretación y visualización espacio-temporal. Las prácticas mejoradas de gestión de la tierra se evalúan individualmente en relación con las carteras de inversión. Posteriormente se evalúan los impactos en los flujos hidrológicos y la disponibilidad de agua, y finalmente se cuantifican estos impactos en términos de rendimientos financieros y / o económicos.
Más específicamente, el análisis de escenarios se realiza combinando varias herramientas, a saber:
- Modelado hidrológico;
- Teledetección, para derivar indicadores de degradación y capacidad natural del paisaje, y
- Análisis de retorno de la inversión. Los resultados de la evaluación biofísica se incorporan directamente a la valoración económica.
En trabajos pasados y actuales, FutureWater respalda casos comerciales para invertir en la gestión mejorada de cuencas hidrográficas, por ejemplo mejorando las prácticas forestales y agrícolas, beneficiando a los usuarios aguas abajo. Estos casos de negocios se utilizan para establecer mecanismos financieros en la cuenca y permitir ecosistemas más saludables y una gestión sostenible de las cuencas hidrológicas.
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