Territorial Occupation in The Coastal Strip and The Environmental Sustainability of The Wetland Ecosystem of Huanchaco-Peru

Volume 6, Issue 2, February – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Territorial Occupation in the Coastal Strip and the

Environmental Sustainability of the Wetland
Ecosystem of Huanchaco-Peru
Carlos A. Bocanegra García Nelson GustavoYwanaga Reh
National university of Trujillo National university of Trujillo
Trujillo, Perú Trujillo, Perú
Zoila Culquichicón Malpica

National university of Trujillo
Trujillo, Perú
Abstract:- Results of the “occupation of the coastal

territory on the environmental sutainability of the It is alarming what is recorded in Spain, where a
wetlands of Huanchaco-Perú” are presented. The work ranking of coastal destruction was established and
was carried out on base of the management and showed that the Mediterranean is the región most
processing satellite images, georeferenced databases that affected. The three comunities that lead the destruction
serve to obtain past and present information, the method of coastal ecosystems due to urbanizations are
used relates different sources of information from the Catalunya, which has the highest percentage of
databases of the District Municipality of Huanchaco with urbanized coastal área: 26.4%, the Valenciana
remote sensing images from Google Earth. The results community occupies second place, with 23.1% of its
show accelerated growth of the mainly urban population, coastline degraded, and in third place is Andalucía with
settled on the coast in detriment of adjacent áreas 15.4%. Furthermore, looking only at the beaches, the
characterized by precaurious basic. worst provinces are Barcelona and Malaga with 83.6%
and Alicante with 80.3%, of their beach line surrounded
Keywords:- Territorial Occupation, Coastal Strip, Wetlands by cement (PALOMA NUCHE, 2018). All this is nothing
Ecosystems. more tan confirmation of the lack of political
commitment, the weakening of the public administration
I. INTRODUCTION and the absence of generalized social consensus turned
out to be the main problems for the continuity of
The phrase that “coastal ecosystems are destroyed programs such as Integrated Coastal Management avoid
ten times tan forests” is a reality. The pressure on this destructive phenomenon ( ROBERT FÈVRE y J. R.
coastal ecosystems is largely motivated by the DADON, 2011).
accelerated increase in population along these areas of
the entire planet. “This means transformation if not Urban expansion is associated with urbanization,
destruction of mangroves, marshes and dunes, and of which is a process that has a base on a certain model of
underwater grasslands and corals”, said Carlos Duarte. occupation of the geographic space, which undoubtedly
Among the pollution that comes from human exerts pressure on ecosystems and their services, as is
settlements, plus the large amounts of nitrogen that the particular case of coastal wetland ecosystems. The
arrive from intensive crops, seagrass beds and coral ecosystem services provided by wetlands are known as
reefs are reduced year after year: it is estimated that resources of ecological and economic importance
these two ecosystems disappear 5% and 9% per year (BOCANEGRA, 2005). However, in recent decades it has
(Catalán Deus, 2007 ). To these statements must be added been observed the accelerated growth of coastal cities
the destruction of coastal wetlands by anthropic with obvious negative consequences on coastal marine
activities such as urban expansión and erosion. What is ecosystems, such as marsh.
worrying is that the trend of this destruction is to
intensify as it is estimated that by 2050, 70% of the Wetlands are known for mitigating so-called
world’s populationn will live in cities and wil be more natural disasters, such as floods and tsunamis. In
extensive especially in the developing countries of Asia, addition, they contribute to post-disaster resilience.
Africa and Latin America (Onu-Hábitat, 2012 ). Much of However, very little is known about the importance of
the urbanization phenomenon observed on a world scale wetlands as a resource that sustains the economy of
is closely related to the growth rate of the urban populations of ancestral origin, such as the fishermen in
population in less developed countries (MARÍA DE “caballito de totora” who use the marsh to cultivate the
ANDRÉS y J. M. BARRAGÁN, 2016). “cattail” that is the raw material for the manufacture of
IJISRT21FEB035 www.ijisrt.com 25
ISSN No:-2456-2165
their boats (Bocanegra y Veneros, 2020). El Balsar de b. Identify and describe from the interpretation of
Huanchaco is a unique wetland on the Peruvian coast, Google Earth images, and visits “in situ”
due to its artificial carácter, which had a surface area of agglomerations of urban centers with respect to their
46,72 ha with 160 pools, where the “cattail” (Scirpus geographical location, type of hábitat, associated
californicus) is cultivated. From this plant, the ecosystems,
fishermen buil the “caballito de totora”, which allows c. Georeference the agglomerations or urban nuclei
them to go to the sea for capturing resources with small analyzing the relationship with the wetland ecosystem.
scale fishing, which constitutes an important source of
economic incomes for their subsitence. III. RESULTS
The value of the raft resides in the high primary 1. Population and urban settlement: Huanchaco is
productivity of the reed. The Huanchaco plots have a one of the districts of Trujillo (Perú), with a strong
dry biomass productivity of 29,6 MT/ha/year. population growth. From the 70s the population
Considering that it is a system that requires a mínimum begins to grow exponentially, going from 780
of manpower, the investment is small. It could probably inhabitants in 1940 to 53 731 inhabitants in 2017
be considered among the most bioproductive (Figure 1).
unfertilized systems on the planet. Although its
biological diversity is relatively low compared to other
coastal wetlands, the beaches of Huanchaco serve both
as a rookery and as a place of passage for migratory
birds, on their migration route along the Pacific coast of
South America. The “balsar” is managed rationally and
steadily. This activity, which favors the development of
artisanal fishing for fishermen in the región, consitutes
an important source of economic resources for the
subsistence of the Huanchaco residents (Pulido, 1996).
Despite the importance of the wetlands or

“cattails” of Huanchaco, with the passage of time, they
have been reduced and largely destroyed, it is from the
year 2000 that a loss of this ecosystem is observed due
to coastal erosion (Bocanegra y Veneros, 2020, Pulido, Figure 1. Graphical representation of population growth
1996, Bocanegra., 2013), aggravated by the coastal urban in the Huanchaco district from 1940 to 2017.
expansion that is the subject of this research. In this
framework, the objective of this study is to provide 2. The occupation of the territory: The Huanchaco
information that serves as a basis for scientists, spa over time shows the phenomenom of urban
managers and politicians of the need to undertake expansión and urban growth, a fact that has implied
urgent measures to regulate urban growth to stop its the growing occupation of the territory without
negative impact on natural spaces and to make taking into account the surrounding ecosystems. One
proposals to promote coastal sustainable and resilient of the first urban center settled in the year 1913,
that consider the importanat of natural ecosystems. where a small number of houses can be seen located
in fron of the pier or pier- The occupation of the
II. MATERIAL AND METHODS territory is sistematic and sustained to the north,
south and east over time (Figure 2).
The study was located in the coastal área of the
Huanchaco spa (Región La libertad, Perú), between the
coordinates: Latitude: -8.08 longitude: -79.1206
latitudes 8°4’48” south longitude 79°7’14” west.
Huanchaco is located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean
78 km southeast of the historic center of Trujillo ( Atlas
Ambiental de Trujillo, 2003).
The work was carried out on the basis of the

management and processing of satellite images,
georeferenced databases that serve to obtain past and
present information. The methodology used took as
reference (Barragán and María de Andrés ) which
consisted of in: Figure 2. View of the occupation of the territory by
a. To obtain, organize and analyze the information in the coastal urban expansión in Huanchaco.
the databases between 1945 and 2017, information from
national population censuses.
ISSN No:-2456-2165
3- Spatial transformations of the wetland ecosystem María De Andrés.2016), changes in land use on the coast
environment: The occupation of the territory that has due to the continuous urbanization of the coast,
meant the reduction of the wetland ecosystem (Figures 5 constitutes a matter of special importance, which is the
and 6), to the point of placing it in a space at critical case of Huanchaco is evidenced by the reduction of the
levels. The wetland ecosystem has not only been not wetland ecosystem due to coastal erosion (Bocanegra,
conserved and protected, but it is threatened and fenced 2012, 2013) and by unplanned urban expansión. This
off by changes in land use, including cliffs. fact confirms what was pointed out by Saginot (Saginot,
1996), who states that the contradictions that are
generated in society are projected in the geographical
space as perceptible material conditions. Each area that
has a specific use corresponds to an economic logic,
particularly profitability. This statement applies to what
happens on the Huanchaco coast, where natural
ecosystems such as wetlands still coexist with housing
opportunities, and activities such as sun and bea ch
tourism. For fishermen of ancestral origin, the wetland
or “raft” is a source of raw material to make their boats
with which they develop their local subsistence
economy, that constitutes a nature, cultural, and
economic resource of heritage. For residents and foreign
investors, it constitutes a resource of economic value
and high profitability due to the advantages of the
location of the coastal marine strip. This confirms what
Figure 3. View of the wetlands ecosystem (“totorales”) David Harvey mentioned, the land, as a geographical
of Huanchaco without occupation of territory, year space, possesses merchandise properties, has use value
1969. and exchange value. The urban phenomenon that
develops in the coastal strip of Huanchaco evidences
this affirmation.
On the other hand, it is known that demographic

growth originates a constant pressure on the litoral
space, mainly due to urban development, as reported for
the coast of Spain (Paloma Nuche, 2018). This
phenomenon is also evidenced in the reduction of the
number and area of the ecosystem of wetlands or
“totorales” in Huanchaco (Figs. 3 y 4), despite the great
importance of the coastal wetland from the environment
point of view and from a perspective socioeconoc
situation, the facts show that it is, in short, the circle of
unsustainability that development patterns present in the
coastal strip of Huanchaco. The unnplanned urban
development pattern in Huanchaco causes an increase in
the pressures exerted on the coastline and especially on
the ecosystem of wetlands or “rafts”, “totorales”.
Therefore, according to Arenas (Arenas, 2012),
Figure 4. View of the environment of the Huanchaco integrated management mechanisms are needed to fase
wetlands ecosystem (“totorales”) where the occupation ecological and socioeconomic problems. Among them,
of the territory is observed, year 2020. the construction of houses, tourism, transport routes that
are related to urban expansión on the coast stand out. In
DISCUSSION this framework, it is necessary to asume individual and
collective commintments to reduce vulnerability, threats
The basic characteristics of urban settlement and or dangers in the fase of risk scenarios where two
occupation of the territory in the Huanchaco coast can specific conditions are combined: habitable spaces with
be defined from the reduction of coastal ecosystems, limited bearing capacity, and a self-motivated local
such as the wetlands known as “totorales” or “rafts” that community as mentioned by Monti (Monti y Escofet,
provide environmental services and constitute natural 2008), who studied the urban occupation of coastal
heritage and cultural. In addition to their ecological spaces in Patagonia, or as the case of the southern coast
function, they are filter feeders and allow the “reed” to of Atacama (Chile) where Consuelo de Castro et al.
be cultivated as raw material for making the vessel of (Consuelo, C. et al. 2010) highlight the presence of
ancestral origin, such as the “caballito de totora” geosites that constitute a resource of h eritage
(Bocanegra, 2005). According to Barragán (Barragán y importance with potential for the conservation and
ISSN No:-2456-2165
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Territorial Occupation in The Coastal Strip and The Environmental Sustainability of The Wetland Ecosystem of Huanchaco-Peru

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Volume 6, Issue 2, February – 2021 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

Territorial Occupation in the Coastal Strip and the

Zoila Culquichicón Malpica

Abstract:- Results of the “occupation of the coastal

Despite the importance of the wetlands or

The work was carried out on the basis of the

On the other hand, it is known that demographic

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